MicroPakistan

The third open letter we’ve put up in little over a month. They’ve been addressed to the Chief Justice, the President and the Prime Minister, respectively. Do they serve any purpose? There is evidence to suggest that in our country they do.

The first one led to the reference being filed against the Chief Justice. The second one was part of a general show of discontent over the President’s actions with regards to the CJ reference. Together, the actions of all those involved brought about an admission by the President that the entire issue had been mishandled and forced the government to backtrack on certain aspects. Here we have the third one requesting the Prime Minister to show what he is made off, or rather what most people who know him think he is made off, and defy the President. It urges him to stand up to the President and act in the interests of his country. We’ll only have to wait and see if Shaukat Aziz has finally arrived. Otherwise, soon it will be time for him to depart.

April 8, 2007

Mr. Shaukat Aziz
Prime Minister of Pakistan
Prime Minister House
Islamabad

The Last Advice

Dear Mr. Prime Minister:

It was a pleasure to see you at the New Islamabad International Airport foundation stone laying ceremony last week after almost fourteen months since we last met in your office on 9 January 2006 – three days before you were forced by the powers that be to order the take-over of my office on the auspicious occasion of Eid. You clearly overshadowed, both in substance and style, the President whose pedantic and disjointed monologue paled before your elegant and articulate speech. You clearly demonstrated that you have arrived politically. You also amply exhibited this at your political rally held after the ceremony.

You may recall, on the day you took over as Prime Minister, I had written about you being politically savvy when many expressed doubts as to your ability to handle a political job. Having worked with you for four long years, I knew that you not only had the ability to survive but also had the potential to go further with your practicing philosophy of expediency.

Having arrived, the time has come for you to go further. You presently have three choices before you. Firstly, in inverse order, you can keep your conscience closeted and continue to enjoy the perquisites of office by hanging on to General Musharraf’s starched uniform, which he refuses to take off to avoid giving politicians a level playing field. This is certainly not the recommended option. Secondly, you can come out of the closet and become the consummate politician that you are just like Bhutto. Remember what Bhutto did to his mentor Ayub – or, for that matter, what General Zia and General Musharraf did to their benefactors Bhutto and Nawaz? Be brave, like Bhutto, and seek redemption of your political soul by asserting the supremacy of civilian rule. This would be the inevitable choice if you have not reached the level of your competence yet. Thirdly, you can become a statesman by rising to the occasion created by the recent judicial crisis and resulting upheaval not only in the legal community but also in the civil and political society. What Pakistan needs today at the helm of affairs is not only a person who is a politician but also a statesman. This is clearly the preferred option.

You may have moved the reference against the Chief Justice of Pakistan even though it is common knowledge that major actions are taken by you at the behest of General Musharraf. By doing so, you are liable to be disqualified from being a Member of Parliament. Sending a judge on forced leave tantamounts to defamation since it brings the judiciary into ridicule. Furthermore, it is an assault on the integrity and independence of the judiciary guaranteed by the Constitution. The reference moved by you, coupled with the Chief Justice being sent on forced leave, is violative of Article 63(1)(g) of the Constitution. You should, therefore, withdraw the reference immediately and remedy the grave situation existing in the country presently.

General Musharrraf carried out a commando attack against the apex court and having been faced with immense opposition from the Bar has had the good military sense to make a tactical retreat by acknowledging the mishandling of the Chief Justice and putting the responsibility on you for having made the reference. You should likewise show political shrewdness by withdrawing the reference to avoid paving the path of destruction for yourself.

Please be advised that you are under no obligation to accept an illegal order from General Musharraf or any of his cohorts. On the contrary, according to the well-established and internationally recognized Nuremburg principle, you may be held liable for carrying out illegal orders. This principle, as you know, has been applied in Pakistan as well, even though wrongly so, in the Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto case.

I realize that if you do not sing General Musharraf’s tune, there may be pressure on you, like there was on me, to resign. However, you should, like me, resist such pressure because you do not serve at the will of General Musarraf but at the will of the people. And, you are duty-bound not just by ordinary law like I was but by the Constitution, the supreme law of the land, to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and, in all circumstances, to do right to all manner of people (including the Chief Justice), according to law, without fear or favor, affection or ill-will. You have sworn not to allow your personal interest to influence your official conduct or your official decisions. Therefore, you should not have done or continue to do, by way of pursuing the reference against the Chief Justice, what is commonly being perceived as a retaliatory measure against him for his decision against your government in the Steel Mills privatization case.

Rather than move a reference against the Chief Justice on what appears to be rather flimsy grounds, you and other parliamentarians should seriously consider impeaching the President for far more serious Constitutional and legal infractions, including the latest case of gross misconduct for holding the Chief Justice under preventive detention at the Army Chief’s office on 9 March 2007.

It is time that educated and enlightened people like you should put a stop to Pakistan being treated like a fiefdom. You owe allegiance to the country and not to the President. I know you do not have any qualms about this but let me nonetheless reiterate that you do not owe anything to General Musharraf. You have made him what he is today. He is basking in the glory of short-term economic successes that you have achieved by following liberal policies prescribed by international agencies. He has made economy the show piece domestically and internationally since he does not have much to show for in others sectors, particularly social and political. And, even with regard to the economy there remains the issue of long-term sustainability of economic growth, the somber reality of which will have to be faced by succeeding governments.

You may not welcome or even consider this gratuitous advice from me because I had declined to serve as your adviser in the Prime Minister’s office for extraneous reasons. Nevertheless, I am sure you will, taking into account the four years that I spent as your adviser when you were Finance Minister, have faith in my integrity and ability to advise you honestly and faithfully. You may or may not accept my political advice since I do not have any expertise in the subject but please do not ignore my legal advice for, as you well know, that is a subject that I know something about.

Mr. Prime Minister, you may recall your parting words to me in seeking to justify your unjustified directive to me to resign. You said “Nothing above country”. My answer to you then was and now remains “Sir, God above country”. I pray for you to make the right choice for yourself and this country.

With warm personal regards,

Sincerely yours,
Tariq Hassan