The breakup of the marriage of convenience between the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) is out in the open after the announcement of the 'long march' scheduled for March 12. The feeling of affection between the two parties was good news for the people of Pakistan, who, somehow, thought the vote beggars had reached a level of political maturity.
All this has vanished as preparations for the long march against the government have begun in the right earnest. While many enthusiasts are gearing up to declare their love for someone, this political couple after their marriage of convenience appears to be doing their groundwork to exchange blows.
To be staged as a final yelling to conclude the issue of the disposed judges, the three-day long march plans to stage a sit-down protest. However, its accomplishment is still an issue because a similar long march last year was aborted due to lack of funds, according to its organizers. The setup of fund raising is vague as far as all the activist lawyers gather funds within their districts under their own capacity.
Since such a big movement was not expected to default in the end, many doubting Thomases were skeptical about the probity of the leaders involved in the movement.
With President Zardari already assuring that he will handle the judges issue, the masses are confused and worried about the consequences of the efforts behind the long march. The Senate elections have been announced to be held on March 4, before the long march. This is also considered to be a political move by the government, proving true the words of President Zardari that he will handle the lawyers' movement in a wise and political way.
This has further heated up the political scenario. The victory of PPP in the Senate elections is a foregone conclusion, and, in that case, the PPP will hold more significant positions of the 50 vacant seats in the Upper House. This will consolidate the party's position and further strengthen it - which means an end to the 17th amendment or the power of modification in it.
There are some restraints in this amendment, such as, the third time premiership, etc. The PML-N wants to get rid of this issue, as also the case of 'ineligibility' against Nawaz Shareef and his companions, and their pain in the neck, Salman Taseer, the Governor of Punjab. Hence, the PML-N has tried to pressurize the PPP by the long march issue before the Senate elections take place. However, President Zardari has spelled ruin by declaring the Senate elections prior to the long march.
Indeed, the lawyer's movement has been politicized, taking aback those supporters who earlier considered it condemnable when Justice Iftikhar Choudhry took the PCO oath, yet supported him and the other judges, thinking that they have done the right thing by not taking the oath later. The judges who were appointed after the declaration of emergency by the former President Pervez Musharraf are no different from the dismissed judges, as both the groups took their oath under the PCO.
Earlier, when the battle was between Nawaz Shareef and Musharraf, he had asked the judiciary to take oath under the martial-law. Then, only a few judges had refused to do so. Later, when the battle between Musharraf and the judiciary exacerbated, Musharraf declared emergency and asked the judiciary to be on his side rather than creating problems for his administration. However, this time about 60 percent of the judges refused to do so.
So, most of the judiciary decided not to validate his acts. That is the only difference between the current PCO judges and the previous ones. Political analysts agree that the judicial system was never non-interventionist and independent in Pakistan. The system and institution has to be improved. Restoring these judges may give the impression that the restored judges have won. But the only real victory would be an improved system. Indeed, we cannot predict the exact outcome of the forthcoming long march, nor can we say that the disposed judges should not be reinstated, as this is what many people wish for.
However, the achievement of every task is slated for a correct time. Presently, Pakistan is confronted with different local and foreign problems. Instead of choosing the right time, the PML-N and other political elements, for serving their political interests, are talking of staging the long march against the government. This move will not result in anything except pushing the nation to more chaos and would benefit those forces which are hostile to the country.
The opposition leaders should use their right to demonstrate on contentious issues. However, the precarious situation in Pakistan demands that protests against the government be staged within the parliament's house instead of on the homeland's streets.
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