PAKISTAN’S politics has taken a sharp turn following a special court verdict which awarded former President and military ruler Pervez Musharraf death sentence in absentia for high treason. For the first time in Pakistan’s history, an army chief has been tried and found guilty of treason, though most of the army dictators had faced mysterious death. A three-member special court in Islamabad on Tuesday convicted Musharraf of violating the Constitution by unlawfully declaring emergency rule in 2007. He had seized power in a military coup in 1999 and ruled Pakistan as President until 2008. Musharraf, however, can file an appeal against the verdict. He went to Dubai in 2016 after Pakistan’s Supreme Court lifted a travel ban allowing him to take medical treatment abroad. He was indicted in 2014 on a total of five charges, including three counts of subverting, suspending and changing the country’s constitution, firing Pakistan’s chief justice, and imposing emergency rule. He also restricted free movement of media.
But what’s most significant is that Pakistan’s armed forces sharply reacted over the court’s verdict. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) of Pakistan said that Musharraf “can surely never be a traitor” and that he had served the country for over 40 years. The ISPR also said that the Armed Forces of Pakistan “expect that justice will be dispensed in line with the Constitution of Islamic Republic.” At present, there are three power players in Pakistan – political parties, judiciary and military. Since independence from British rule, Pakistan’s military has been apparently controlling the politics where seizing state power at gunpoint was very popular formula among the army generals. They’re now sharing power with judicial branch and political parties making Pakistan’s politics more critical.
There is nothing new in delivering brave judgements against military dictatorships after civilian rule is restored. General Musharraf’s coming to power was made easier when civilian president Nawaz Sharif tried to stop the army chief’s plane foolishly obstructing it from landing in Karachi hoping the plane would crash for shortage of fuel. Nowhere martial law is imposed where the political leadership remains free from corruption and treats public support essential.
In our view the judgement will not serve any good at this late stage. The important thing is practicing democracy sincerely, so that the Constitution is not flouted by the civilian government to become a dictatorship.
