Lawyers can do little if judiciary bent upon sending govt home: Asma
Says it is difficult to run a government if civilian institutions cooperate with the establishment.
LAHORE:
Continuing her criticism of the judiciary, former Supreme Court Bar Association president Asma Jahangir has said that there is little that lawyers can do if the institution is poised to send the government packing.
“It is difficult to run a government if civilian institutions cooperate with the establishment,” said Jahangir, who had refused to represent former Pakistan ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani when the Supreme Court decided to investigate the Memogate scandal itself.
“Memogate is being made a larger issue than it is. It was not a public issue before the Inter-Services Intelligence chief met Mansoor Ijaz. There is no a single message in Haqqani’s BlackBerry which mentions the memo,” she told reporters at the District and Sessions Court in Lahore on Friday. “It appears that judges are playing the role of lawyers in the Memogate case,” she told The Express Tribune later.
Blaming the government for strengthening the establishment, she said that Memogate as well as the National Reconciliation Ordinance should be debated in parliament.
When asked if the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s new-found glory was the establishment’s doing, she said that the establishment had always supported a segment of politicians. “It had formulated one such segment in 1985 and now it needs another,” she said.
Talking about the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s role in ensuring the government’s chances of completing its tenure, she said the party’s decision will be vital.
Continuing her criticism of the judiciary, former Supreme Court Bar Association president Asma Jahangir has said that there is little that lawyers can do if the institution is poised to send the government packing.
“It is difficult to run a government if civilian institutions cooperate with the establishment,” said Jahangir, who had refused to represent former Pakistan ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani when the Supreme Court decided to investigate the Memogate scandal itself.
“Memogate is being made a larger issue than it is. It was not a public issue before the Inter-Services Intelligence chief met Mansoor Ijaz. There is no a single message in Haqqani’s BlackBerry which mentions the memo,” she told reporters at the District and Sessions Court in Lahore on Friday. “It appears that judges are playing the role of lawyers in the Memogate case,” she told The Express Tribune later.
Blaming the government for strengthening the establishment, she said that Memogate as well as the National Reconciliation Ordinance should be debated in parliament.
When asked if the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s new-found glory was the establishment’s doing, she said that the establishment had always supported a segment of politicians. “It had formulated one such segment in 1985 and now it needs another,” she said.
Talking about the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s role in ensuring the government’s chances of completing its tenure, she said the party’s decision will be vital.