My Dear Countrymen, Assalaam-o-Alaikum!
Today we - you & I - are, by the grace of Almighty God, making history. For the very first time a sitting government has been voted out and a new government voted in. For the very first time all political parties, but most significantly the losing party, have accepted the results of the elections. For the very first time a peaceful democratic transfer of power took place when I administered the oath to the incoming free and fairly elected government. For the very first time a grand coalition between the two largest political parties, that is, PPP and PMLN has taken place and for that I congratulate Mr. Asif Ali Zardari and Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif. There were other firsts too. Pakistan does not only have the distinction of being the first Muslim country to have elected a woman Prime MInister, Mohtrama Shaheed Benazir Bhutto, in 1988 but now the first Muslim country to have elected a woman Speaker of the house and for that I congratulate Pakistan’s National Assembly and its new Speaker. Continue reading ‘An Electrifying Address to the Nation by President Pervez Musharraf by Shaheryar Azhar’
Published on March 18, 2008
in People.
Last week I had the pleasure of attending a small dinner with Shaukat Aziz, the former Prime Minister. In a wide-ranging two hour conversation, he gave his thoughts and perspectives on a whole host of issues facing the country and offered some insights into the past eight years that I found fascinating.
Aziz, as most readers are aware, was a prominent figure in Citibank in New York in 1999 when he was asked by Musharraf to be the Finance Minister in the new regime. The decision to work with a military government was criticized by some, but on the other hand, Aziz had an opportunity to tackle some fundamental problems that plagued Pakistan, and his expertise made him one of few who could do the job. He accepted and served as Finance Minister for several years, then became Prime Minister in 2004. Although ultimately Musharraf was in charge, the main domestic and economic policies were designed and implemented by Aziz, and so he was the architect of the reforms that occurred. He left office in November 2007, and is now on a global speaking tour, for which he has declined remuneration. Continue reading ‘Dinner With Shaukat Aziz by Nayyer Ali’
Justice delayed is justice denied
WITH those words, 19th century British statesman William Gladstone coined a phrase that has echoed in political and legal discourse ever since. Indeed, he could have been speaking about Pakistan today. A miscarriage of justice took place in Islamabad exactly one year and one day ago. It has not been rectified.
The defining moment for the incoming, popularly elected government will come when it tackles the issue. It should think of the constitutional legacy of Quaid-i-Azam M.A. Jinnah, who was also one of the subcontinent’s finest attorneys. The Quaid would have been proud of the role played by Iftikhar Chaudhry, Aitzaz Ahsan, Munir Malik and their cohorts in last year’s movement for judicial independence. Continue reading ‘Restoring the judges by Ahmad Faruqui’
The lawyers’ movement in Pakistan will go down in history as an effort by the legal profession to set the judiciary right and prevent military rulers from using the higher judiciary to supersede the Constitution and make themselves legal. The solidarity within the community was significant and it created some stunning impressions on civil society in general and the political parties in particular.
Sensing that their street protest and district-level mobilisation was creating a new awareness, the lawyers became chary of politicising their movement. But with the passage of time, political parties were forced to look at the movement and the dividends it could yield. The first bait they threw to the lawyers was boycott of the elections. Lawyers responded to it positively since a boycott would have added to the punch they were already packing. Continue reading ‘Where will the lawyers lead us? by Khaled Ahmed’
