Pakistan Views

The United States, which views President Pervez Musharraf as a vital ally in fighting terrorism, shied away on Monday from taking a stance on the possible restoration of judges seen as hostile to him. Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif agreed on Sunday to join the late Benazir Bhutto’s party in a coalition, raising the prospect of a government hostile to Musharraf, who dismissed the judges when he imposed emergency rule in November. Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari, also agreed to restore dismissed judges within a month of forming a coalition government. The dismissed judges, including the chief justice of Pakistan, were seen as hostile to Musharraf’s October re-election by legislators for a new five-year term as president while he was still army chief. The judges are likely to take up legal challenges to Musharraf if they are restored, potentially calling into question his political future. Zardari, who took over as PPP leader after Benazir was martyred on Dec. 27, and Sharif agreed the reappointment of the dismissed judges would occur through a parliamentary resolution within 30 days of the formation of the government. “Those are entirely their decisions to make,” said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.
“It is our view that these are issues that need to be handled solely by the Pakistanis,” he added. “We don’t have a vote in this, nor should we.” PPP won the most seats in a Feb. 18 general election but not enough to rule alone. Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), or PML (N), party came second and while it had promised to support the PPP, Sharif had not previously confirmed his party would join the PPP in government. The agreement between the PPP and PML (N) would appear to dash any hope that Musharraf might have had that the party that backs him, which came third in the election, might be part of a coalition. Musharraf quit as army chief in November, before being sworn in as civilian president. Western allies and Pakistan’s neighbours, concerned about instability in Pakistan already reeling from suicide bombings by al Qaeda-inspired militants, fear more political upheaval in the country in case of confrontation between the president and new government.