Sharif life ban rattles Pakistan ruling party
lahore — The Pakistan Supreme Court’s decision on Friday, which ruled former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s disqualification from politics under Article 62(1)(f) of the constitution as permanent, led to a sharp rebuke from the ruling party, caused visible divisions among the legal community and also extended the intra-day slide at the stock market, which ended 250 points in the red.
Article 62(1)(f), which has become increasingly controversial since Nawaz’s ineligibility on July 28, 2017, requires members of parliament to be “sadiq” and “ameen” (honest and righteous). A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court had reserved the judgment on this case on February 14, 2008, amid sharp debate on the judiciary’s authority to decide on predominantly parliamentary matters.
“We asked Nawaz Sharif to settle this matter in parliament”, Opposition Leader Khursheed told the media shortly after the verdict. “But he did not accept this and knocked on the court’s door himself.”
Jurists backing Friday’s verdict say the court has to ensure clarity on matters where the constitution is ambiguous. And since it sets no time limit on disqualification under the said article, the final interpretation was left with the court.
Expectedly, the ruling PML-N ridiculed the verdict, calling it a “joke” and “conspiracy”.
“I believe this decision will have deep historical importance, just like the hanging of (former PM) Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, martial law governments, doctrine of necessity, etc,” Senator Musaddiq Malik, a senior PML-N spokesman, told Khaleej Times.
“This will only make us take our case more strongly to the people. We must impress the sanctity of the vote upon the consciousness of the public.”
Malik’s comments lend weight to fears that the verdict will make Nawaz escalate his anti-judiciary rhetoric. Ever since the disqualification in July, Nawaz has repeatedly bad-mouthed the superior judiciary and establishment in frequent public speeches.
Already the attacks on the judiciary have led to contempt of court charges against three senior party members, leading to a conviction of one senator while cases are pending against two ministers.
Yet the single-minded assault on state institutions has also unsettled some of the more conservative members of the party’s old guard — including Nawaz’s younger brother and now party president, Shahbaz Sharif.
“This will make things particularly difficult for Shahbaz”, said Ayaz Amir, a prominent political analyst. “He will have to find the balance between Nawaz’s extremism and the party’s stance as a whole.”
To make matters worse, the ruling party has recently been stung by defections in Balochistan and South Punjab. And as the uncertainty about the party’s politics deepens, it threatens a domino effect that might hit its power base in central Punjab.
PML-N, on the other hand, is quick to shoot down such speculation, especially since Shahbaz came out strongly in Nawaz’s favour immediately after the decision.
“There are no differences between the Sharif brothers. They might employ different approaches, but they are working towards the same ideals, which is quite normal,” said Musaddiq Malik.
Even as this decision pushes Nawaz into political oblivion forever, there is a bigger sword still hanging over his head.
His corruption cases at the accountability court — which was formed on the Supreme Court’s orders in the wake of the Panama Case judgment that got him disqualified in the first case — are also about to come full circle. Failure to justify his assets, which his counsels could not during the initial investigation of the case, could even land him in jail.
While such a development will bring out Nawaz’s close supporters more openly against the top court, it is also expected to cause more defections in the run-up to the general election, which is only three months away. With PML-N’s stock on the decline, analysts are predicting ‘electables’ to hop on to Imran Khan’s PTI bandwagon, which is now the biggest threat to the ruling party in its traditional power base.
Ironically, Nawaz stood in the way of repealing Article 62(1)(f) when the previous PPP government was legislating the 18th amendment. Now the same constitutional provision, which was put in place by Nawaz’s political mentor Gen Zia ul Haq, has not just proved his own undoing, it has also put the future of the country’s largest political party in doubt.