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Asma Jahangir's win: Balancing factor?
Jahangir's election is a balancing factor in the convoluted govt-judiciary relations.
ISLAMABAD: Under normal circumstances, the victory would have hardly been celebrated. But the election of Asma Jahangir as the president of the highest lawyers union is considered a ‘balancing factor’ in the currently convoluted government-judiciary relations.
In March last year, a sustained passionate movement by the legal fraternity culminated in the return of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to his post from which he was unceremoniously removed.
Just 18 months later, the same community has given an altogether different verdict by electing a vocal critic of the judiciary who, some say, has been “over-assertive” on several occasions.
What initially appeared to be a three-way contest turned out to be one of the toughest battles between runner-up Ahmed Awais and victorious Asma Jahangir, who has already earned a name for herself by championing the cause of human rights.
Jahangir secured 835 votes from all eight polling stations – Lahore, Rawalpindi, Abbottabad, Multan, Peshawar, Bahawalpur, Karachi and Quetta – while Ahmed Awais, the other candidate, got 796 votes. The third contestant, Muhammad Ikram Chaudhry, bagged just 128 votes.
Jahangir climbed up the ladder of fame as a young enthusiastic lawyer back in the 1970s, winning a nerve-shattering battle against the martial law regime of former dictator General Yahya Khan.
Since then, Jahangir has always been a representative of the liberal face of an otherwise conservative Pakistan society, a distinction which has earned her both admirers and critics.
She initially supported the country-wide movement by fellow lawyers for the restoration of judges removed by then president Pervez Musharraf.
But more recently she has been urging ‘caution’ to the Supreme Court in cases like the judicial review of a constitutional amendment and reopening of graft charges against President Asif Ali Zardari in courts abroad. Three former SCBA presidents and prominent names of the lawyers’ movement – Ali Ahmed Kurd, Munir A Malik and Justice (retd) Tariq Mehmood – were backing Jahangir for this crucial election.
Interestingly, these three personalities had won the top slots from the platform of the ‘Professional Group’, led by Hamid Khan. This time around, however, the group was behind Awais.
Jahangir’s election has broken Hamid Khan group’s series of successes: representatives of the same group have been holding the SCBA’s top slot for the past four years.
Although Asma herself denies having any government allegiance, it is obvious that officials of the PPP administration had been actively supporting her during the electioneering.
The government would have had to face a formidable situation if Awais had won the elections in the wake of the current judiciary-executive tussle, but the question is: would Jahangir’s election to the top SCBA slot let the government heave a sigh of relief?
For obvious reasons, President Zardari was the first to greet Jahangir: it is his government which had a lot at stake. The defeat of a candidate backed by lawyers hostile to him is an apparent indication that the judiciary, if confronted, might not have the solid wall of willing foot soldiers to wage a fight for it on the streets like they did in the past. One thing can be said for sure: her election is likely to impact not just the country’s body politics, but it will also affect the internal unity of the legal fraternity.
Wednesday’s results also make another major revelation: the apparent unity of the lawyers community, which appeared to be a galvanised group since Musharraf’s sacking of Justice Chaudhry in 2007, has been torn asunder.
In the presence of a clear division in the legal community, it will not be smooth sailing for either of the group’s bid to assert as the community leader.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 28th, 2010.
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Asma’s election is a good omen for the democratic forces. It also indicates that the lawyers do not approve of an “over-reaching” judiciary and its actions to transgress on the powers of the parliament.Recommend
Congrats Madam Asma. You will certainly be a balancing factor on this patchy road. Minority community is looking towards you for the problems they are facing due to some laws which were injected by a dictator and is known as Article 195 ABC. I am sure that some sigh of relief must have been for some Senior Judges who were too much under the pressure of those other Senior Lawyers who never wanted any stability between the government and the judiciary. Good luck and God Bless you and your loved ones.Recommend
Congrats to Asma JehangirRecommend
its good for thecountry,i really appreciate ali ahmed kurd for this
in larg it will also benifit ppppRecommend
Victory for Babar Awan and the large sums of money he dished out. Shes always had an agenda and sadly it never was pro pakistan.Recommend
Victory for babar awan and the PPP. all that money hasnt gone to waste. Asma Jehangir hasn’t exactly had a pro-pakistan agenda.Recommend
I have my doubts regarding this lady. Anyways, we all will see her true character in a very near future.Recommend
If someone has doubts in his/her mind that Asma will be soft on wrong doings of the government, then he/she is making a terrible mistake. She is as upright women and has had clean history. She has been struggling for rule of law and human rights ever since she joined this profession. I am jubilant to see her leading the conscience of legal fraternity. When 1999 coup was declared, and everybody was rejoicing and distributing sweets, she was the first person to come to the fore and said what was said 3 years later.Recommend
As far as PPP is concerned every person is perceived to be in its support who maintains neutral point of view and present unbiased analysis.Recommend
Lets see how events unfold. This is her moment, center stage. We wait for her to show her true colors with doubt and trepidation. I hope she upholds the not the rule of the law but the spirit of justice. May Allah have mercy on our nation.Recommend
I’m not really sure as to how much this post, she has been elected on, can contribute to the provision of easy justice to the populace and good relations between the judiciary and government. But I hope she does her best in advising the “too much independent judiciary” to focus on the problems of the populace then just focusing on how to create hurdles for the democratic government and not let them work. Its a great chance with the honorable Justices to do so then focusing on toppling the governmnet, in which case, i’m sure the future will never forgive any of us. We have to let democracy work, no matter how poor it is, it’s best then the likes of Zia and Musharrafs. Let us give time to democracy to complete it’s term and bring stability to this country that so much need it, rather then having another Mush, selling our sovergnity, yet pretending to be our champion, and let also not give the chance to theocrats to islamize our country and make us a middle eastern man, for we are far better not to be an arab but to be a Pakistani.Recommend
Asma Jahangir’s election as president of the Supreme Court Bar Association is a success for liberal democratic forces in the country-and is a loss for yellow journalists, judicial dictatorship loyalists and especially all those saints, who were availing the perks and benefits after taking oath twice under PCO in 1999 and 2002 and now have become saints and champion of judiciary, were allotted plots in Islamabad worth millions of rupees by during the last two years. Asma Jahangir represents modern, progressive and forward-looking sections of Pakistani society across the globe. She has spent most of her career defending the rights of women, religious minorities, and children of Pakistan. Aided in her mission by fellow activists and colleagues from the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, she has continued her battle for justice amidst constant threats to her safety. Her willingness to relentlessly defend victims of rape, women seeking divorce from abusive husbands, people accused of blasphemy, her work on the issues of child labor, and her continuous criticism of political parties has made her one of the most controversial figures in Pakistan. She has served as the chairperson of the Pakistan Human Rights Commission. In 1998, she was appointed Special Rapporteur of the UN Commission on Human Rights.Asma’s election is a good omen for the democratic forces. It also indicates that the lawyers do not approve of an “over-reaching” judiciary and its actions to transgress on the powers of the parliament.Recommend
It is more of a defeat for Ahmed Awais, a man with a controversial history. Men like Hamid Khan continued to appear before the toothless Dogar Court, while few had the moral integrity to resist the temptation. Those who made business out of providing justice include many lawyers of ill-repute . A lot of patriotic expat Pakistanis support the emergence of an independent judiciary led by the popular Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, whose personality and principled stand against the dictator Mush, won him international fame. Although I differed with Miss Asma’s stand on NRO, she has definitely a much better track recoed than her adversary. Religion has got nothing to do with honesty and integrity. In Pakistan before the emergence of Chief Justice Iftikhar Ch who won international acclaim, the only judges who were respected for their integrity were Justice Cornelius, Justice Kayani and to some extent Justice Baghwandas. One hopes that Asma Jehangir will do justice to the trust that has been reposed in her and put to shame the negative propaganda waged against her. People of Pakistan expect the SCBA to take a principled stand against corruption and providing justice to the people. The family cases, women abuse cases etc filed by divorced and battered women linger on for ages and her special focus should be on such cases.Recommend
wao we are happy on victory of ASMA JEHANGIR “THE WOMAN OF PEACE IN THE WORLD” Also Expose those persons/ parties who were against Asma Jehangir “Recommend
Ms. Asma Jahangir is her own voice. It would be wrong to think that her victory is a victory for this or that group. It is a victory for the lawyers. They will not now be the tools of any vested interest groups. Ms. Asma will bring a breath of fresh air in these troubling times. She has proved time and again that she is not afraid to speak her mind, God bless her.Recommend
Congrats to Asma .Recommend
Asma ——- sky is the limit—–wish you all success.Recommend
Asma is a woman of substance. She had the guts to fight against the Zia, Bhuttos, Musharraf, Nawaz, even Chaudhry’s during the marathon. The enlightened and outspoken Asma election win is historic, even more symbolically meaningull than restoration of CJ.Recommend
Congratulations Asma…Its a proud moment for me as a WOMEN has won the election of SCBA president.Its a milestone victory…!Recommend
Asma Jahangir’s win in the recent presidential elections of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) is a historic turn. Ms Jahangir has always been against military dictatorships and anti-democratic policies. On November 3, Ms Jahangir said that she would resist any unconstitutional attempt against the judiciary from the executive but she also warned that the lawyers would not tolerate if the judiciary indulged in any extra-constitutional move. After the restoration of the judiciary, some lawyers unfortunately became partisan in favour of the bench. This was not a healthy trend since lawyers are meant to play an intermediary role between the litigant and the courts so that justice can be delivered. It is hoped that now all state institutions would work within their parameters, which is integral to a democratic process.Recommend