The ruling party is attempting to kill two birds – judicial activism and belligerent opposition – with one stone: the memo scandal.
Federal Law Minister Maula Bux Chandio on Saturday railed against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief for petitioning the court in the memo scandal and accused him of “putting a very honourable and impartial institution at stake for [his] own political ambitions.”
Chandio’s outburst is part of the defiance shown by the Pakistan Peoples Party’s leadership against the Supreme Court’s order for instituting a commission to probe the memo scandal.
“The judiciary is being involved when the army has stopped meddling in the political affairs and is also supporting the democratic government,” Chandio said.
When asked if the government will file a review appeal in the Supreme Court on its commission order, the law minister said the government’s legal experts are considering all constitutional provisions in that regard.
Chandio accused Nawaz of conspiring to topple the government, since it came to power.
“Why don’t they resign from parliament if they have lost faith in the institution?” Chandio said.
The N-League chief honoured his promise with former president Pervez Musharraf by allowing him 10 years in power but could not wait for the PPP government to complete its tenure, he added.
PPP, SC not at loggerheads
The law minister tried to dispel the impression that his party is always at loggerheads with the judiciary.
He said several federal ministers have appeared before the court, and the party has given precedence to the judicial commission, over the Parliamentary Committee, for appointment of judges.
“As a law minister, I might have disagreed with the appointment of a certain judge in our meetings but despite that, I always followed the judicial commission’s decisions,” he said.
He was relentless, though, on the charge against memo commission: “We respect the judiciary but we have constitutional right to disagree with its decisions,” he said.
Taj Hyder seconds Chandio
Chandio was seconded by General Secretary PPP Sindh Taj Hyder who said: “The Supreme Court’s decision to constitute a committee to probe into the [memogate] case is direct interference in the affairs of parliament, which is supreme to all institutions in the country.”
Addressing a joint press conference with the provincial Information Minister Shazia Marri, Hyder said the court nominated a former police official to head the committee, who appears to be affiliated with a particular political party.
Hyder said that hearing of memogate case scandal at the apex court is a violation of parliament’s sovereignty and the court’s integrity.
The PPP leader, however, appeared to vindicate the court later and said that by petitioning it over the memogate scandal, Nawaz Sharif had orchestrated an attack on the Supreme Court.
(With additional input by our correspondent in Karachi.)
Published in The Express Tribune, December 4th, 2011.
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A year ago,some Sindh parliament members remarked about the higher courts of the country as Punjabi courts.Events,day by day,are proving their point.Is there any expert who can calculate to what extent it is true???
Memo scandal story revealed http://707monty.blogspot.com
For the last 4 years you had one person to protect now you have two of them.....God save us!!!
All reliefs for sharifs, what does it mean.
As Asma Jahangir pointed out that even in village punchayats other party is given oppurtunity to defend itself.
SENATE COMMING ELECTIONS ARE NERVES OF ESTABLISHMENT AND PUNBAB MAFIA (GHAIRAT BRIGADE)In memogate such a hurry.
The SC judges are scared of PML-N and if they do not follow Sharif then they might be attacked again while in session. Sharif has completed his 10 years of amnesty with Mush and is ready to jump in politics. However, he is not the only "Sher" in Punjab anymore and he is opting the backdoor not the elections. N. Sharif was all done when Mush had deported his the second time with ease and there was no reaction by the masses. In the US not just the president but his personal office staff and even Vice President's staff have the presedential immunity and SC cannot dare call them while in office. In Pakistan, it is the sitting general who cannot be called in SC ever.