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| India-Pakistan |
| Musharraf bid to sack Pakistan judge overruled |
| 2007-07-20 |
| The power of Pakistan's president has been dented after the supreme court struck down his order to sack the country's chief justice. Musharraf bid to sack Pakistani judge `illegal' Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry has become a symbol of opposition to President Musharraf A panel of 13 judges today ruled that General Pervez Musharraf's move in March to suspend Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry was "illegal". The chief justice has become a popular symbol of opposition to Gen Musharraf. Lawyers stood and applauded as the decision was read out in court, while shouts of "Go Musharraf, Go" resounded among the hundreds of his supporters gathered outside. Gen Musharraf sparked the most damaging crisis of his eight-year rule when he attempted to sack Mr Chaudhry for allegedly pulling rank to secure a police job for his son and enjoying unwarranted privileges such as the use of government aircraft. advertisement However, opponents accused the military ruler of removing the independent-minded judge in order to forestall legal challenges to his plan to be elected for another five-year term. The move sparked months of political unrest and forced a series of embarrassing climb-downs by his government. The court ruling comes as Pakistan continues to be battered by a wave of bloody attacks, triggered by the storming of a radical mosque by commandos last week in Islamabad. More than 200 people have since been killed and another suicide attack today claimed four lives in North Waziristan. Mushahid Hussain Sayed, the secretary general of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League, said the government accepted the decision and called for unity. "This process shows that Pakistani people, state and society are dynamic, vibrant and open," he said. "It testifies to Pakistan's strength as a democratic society." However, Ayaz Amir, one of Pakistan's leading newspaper columnists, described the verdict as a massive blow for Gen Musharraf. "This will have dealt him the psychological effects of failure. A military order has been challenged and overturned," he added. More than half of Pakistan's 60-year history has been spent under military rule, and most civilian governments have been contemptuous of the judiciary. Indeed, the chief justice's victory was won after months of large-scale protests led by lawyers who were frequently beaten by cane-wielding policemen. A pro-Chaudhry rally in the volatile city of Karachi was cancelled after gunmen opened fire on protesters killing 40 people in May, while a suicide bomber killed 15 more people at another rally in Islamabad at the weekend. Meanwhile, a senior supreme court official who refused to bring evidence against the chief justice was shot dead at his home. Gen Musharraf announced earlier this week that he hoped to be re-elected as president and to continue as army chief after elections early next year. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |