As a PPP supporter it is painful for me to see the erosion of the party leadership’s credibility due to its wavering stance on the issue of restoration of the superior judiciary. The people of Pakistan expect Mr Zardari to reinstate the deposed judges instead of issuing rhetorical statements. He unfortunately is not seeing the damage his ambiguous stand has done to the party. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto gained prominence when he stood up against Field Marshal Ayub Khan in the wake of the Tashkent pact. He became a symbol of defiance and won the hearts and minds of a populace that was tired of a dictator. His political heiress, Benazir Bhutto, managed her return to Pakistan in 2007 through negotiations, but upon her return she immediately responded to people’s wishes and demanded the restoration of the deposed judiciary.
Today Justice Chaudhry has become a symbol of defiance after he refused to submit to the wishes of a general who had ruled the country with an iron hand. For eight years General Musharraf misused his position as chief executive of the state without any notable resistance from political quarters. The act of defiance by Justice Chaudhry and the subsequent lawyers’ movement led by Aitzaz Ahsan, Munir A Malik, Ali Ahmed Kurd and others rekindled the flames of political activity and a movement, which demanded the restoration of judiciary and democracy and the removal of Mr Musharraf. The PPP is expected to stand up for the restoration of the judiciary to its pre-November 3 position.
It is more important since Benazir Bhutto’s procession in Karachi was attacked, leaving at least 180 people dead, yet the police refused at first to register an FIR on the instructions of the Musharraf regime high-ups. Her assassination in Rawalpindi followed by the removal of forensic evidence from the site of the attack suggests that some senior government officials were involved in it, since no such action could have been taken without their prior approval. Mr Zardari must change the style of his politics and take into account the desires of the nation instead of handing over key posts to his personal friends who have no ideological commitment to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto.