Pakistan's Revolt Of The Lawyers

Here's one that hasn't really hit US radar yet that I've been watching develop over the weekend - the revolt of the lawyers in Pakistan. After President Musharaff decided to suspend the nation's Chief Justice on Friday - on what appear to be trumped-up charges which most everyone agrees are a cover for removing an official who was a thorn in Musharaff's side - crowds of angry lawyers have clashed with police, boycotted the courts and burned effigies of the president.

The TV images of a president in military uniform chastising the country's top judge have had people in shock for the past four days.

Meanwhile, a storm of protests has erupted all over the country, with the legal community boycotting the courts and opposition parties gearing up for a political conference to debate the issue.

Members of the government insist the action is rooted in the constitution, but critics say the sequence of events shows that that may not be the case.

On Friday, General Musharraf called the chief justice to Army House, his official residence in Rawalpindi, and asked him to explain his position on a list of charges brought against him from several quarters.

Finding his answers unsatisfactory, the official APP news agency reported, the president referred the allegations to the country's Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), a five-member body of senior judges empowered to probe the conduct of their peers.

At the same time, he issued two orders; one restraining the chief justice from performing his functions and the other ordering the appointment of an acting chief justice.

The Chief Justice was then held under house arrest and incommunicado for two days, with his telephone lines disconnected, his mobile phone blocked and the delivery of his newspapers stopped.

What did the chief justice do to warrant such harsh treatment when, according to the constitution, he is still the head of the judiciary in Pakistan?

Government officials say that several people have filed complaints with the president accusing the chief justice of misusing his office and receiving favours.

But critics say corruption is not an issue with the present government.

They point out that there are more serious charges - such as financial embezzlement and property fraud - against some judges, including two members of the Supreme Judicial Council which will hear the chief justice's case.

They also point to the federal cabinet, many of whose members had corruption cases pending against them in the National Accountability Bureau until they decided to join the government.

The chief justice was singled out because of his past performance, they say, which created misgivings in official circles about his likely role in the coming legal battles ahead of national elections, due later this year.

Since June 2005, when he took office for an eight-year term, the chief justice worked overtime to cut the backlog of cases at the Supreme Court.

He also took forceful action in cases relating to human rights, women and the environment, often coming down hard on senior police and civil officials to enforce the relevant laws.

But two cases stand out as evidence that the chief justice was not reluctant to take the legal battle to the very corridors of power in Islamabad.

In June 2006, he reversed the sale of state-owned Pakistan Steel Mills, citing legal violations in the process of sale by the concerned institutions including the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation, headed by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.

More recently, he embarrassed the government by pressuring the intelligence agencies to disclose the whereabouts of scores of missing persons who they denied having detained.

...Iftikhar Chaudhry told trainee military officers in February that, in his opinion, General Musharraf could not continue as army chief beyond his present term as president.

Observers say there can be no better reason for his suspension last Friday than these remarks.

Observers are calling it a constitutional crisis.

U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said that by "brazenly and unlawfully dismissing" Chaudhary, the government had undermined the independence of the judiciary. His hearing should be open, it said.

"President Musharraf has created a constitutional crisis at the judiciary's expense," said Ali Dayan Hasan, a researcher for the group.

The News newspaper said that denying Chaudhary his right to move and associate freely violated the constitution.

"The government needs to extricate itself from this ugly situation before it spirals out of control," it said.

"Any delay in repairing the damage can only convince most Pakistanis that they live in a country that has all the makings of a police state."

Chaudhary has now challenged the right of the Musharaff-appointed panel to hear complaints against him.

This one deserves more attention Stateside than it has gotten so far. Changes of leadership have begun on far less.