US says president can dismiss parliament if judges restored.

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
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Alhamdulilallah. God Bless USA. The country that understands the ground realities in Pakistan more than the Pakistanis themselves.

http://www.dawn.com/2008/02/03/top3.htm

US says president can dismiss parliament if judges restored

WASHINGTON, Feb 2: President Pervez Musharraf retains the power to dissolve the next parliament if it restores the previous judiciary, says the US State Department.

A senior State Department official made these observations while explaining at a recent congressional hearing how the United States views the judicial crisis in Pakistan and how it believes this dispute can be resolved.

Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher told a congressional panel that while the United States views the sacking of judges in Pakistan as “not a good move,” it also believes that the issue of an independent judiciary in Pakistan can’t be solved that simply.

“To fix it, it needs to be done with the full political process, with the newly elected prime minister and other leaders, and they have to try to get together and figure out how to have a good and independent judiciary in Pakistan,” he said.

The explanation led to a debate between Mr Boucher and the lawmakers who argued that Washington’s position on this dispute was not based on sound logic and it may enhance anti-American feelings in Pakistan.

At this stage, Congressman Peter Welch, a Vermont Democrat, asked Mr Boucher if it’s true that President Musharraf retains the power to dissolve the parliament which will be elected on Feb 18.

“That’s been the case for a long time,” said the US diplomat who is also his department’s pointsman for South Asia.

“So … if the parliament takes an action to restore the judiciary, President Musharraf has the power to dissolve the legislature and negate that action,” Mr Welch asked.

“In theory, yes. I mean, as you all know, there’s sort of constitutional law and there’s politics,” said Mr Boucher.

This caused Congressman Welch to ponder loudly why the United States was supporting a system that invalidates the entire electoral process by giving an individual the power to dissolve a body elected by the people.

“If you look at the history of Pakistan, you’ve had prime ministers kicked out by presidents and by the army. Some of that’s in the constitution; some of it’s not,” said Mr Boucher.

“The fact is, we’re going to have a new political situation after the election. The parties are participating, and we hope they can get a fair representation.”

The congressman then asked Mr Boucher if he sees President Musharraf as indispensable as his boss, Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte recently described the Pakistani leader.

“I do, sir,” said Mr Boucher. “I think he’s led the nation the way it’s gone.” He then said that Mr Musharraf has now taken a new role. Although he is still the president, he is no longer “the guy in charge. So he’s going to be one player along with a newly elected prime minister and a number of other government institutions”.

Earlier, Congressman John F. Tierney, a Massachusetts Democrat who was presiding the hearing, noted that “despite the essential need of a legitimate and impartial judiciary in the electoral process, the Bush administration appears willing to concede a dismantled judiciary to President Musharraf.

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Re: US says president can dismiss parliament if judges restored.

The foreign 'finger' remains behind our govt, Subhanalla.

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Re: US says president can dismiss parliament if judges restored.

ehtasab bhaijan. No fingers. Even the foreigners understand the ground realities. :)

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Re: US says president can dismiss parliament if judges restored.

Of course they do. They are the ones who created the ground realities in the first place.

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Regardless of who did the grinding result is Pakistan has been totallly grounded out.

Wouldn't it be lot easier to just ask usa to take over. Pakistan and have them outsource administration to India? It will spare people of these daily insults and. Kicks in the rear.

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Re: US says president can dismiss parliament if judges restored.

http://www.dawn.com/2008/03/18/top7.htm

US resolution seeks judges’ reinstatement

By Anwar Iqbal
WASHINGTON, March 17: A new resolution moved in the US House of Representatives calls for the restoration of the Supreme Court of Pakistan to its pre-Nov 3 status and for the reinstatement of all judges dismissed during the emergency period.

The resolution, titled “Condemning the dismissal of the Supreme Court in Pakistan and calling for their reinstatement by the Government of Pakistan,” also condemns President Pervez Musharraf’s move to force judges of the superior courts to take oath under the Provisional Constitution Order.

The resolution already enjoys a bipartisan support in the House and is considered much more significant than ordinary resolutions because it is backed by members of powerful congressional committees that deal with judicial and legal matters.

Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, who chairs the House Judiciary Subcommittee on International Law, is the original mover. She plays a significant role in the Democratic Party as the Chair of the 34-member California Democratic Congressional Delegation and may have a major role in the administration if the Democrats win the 2008 presidential election.

Another significant sponsor of the resolution is Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, who chairs the Pakistan Caucus on Capitol Hill.

Congressman William Delahunt, a senior member of the House International Relations Committee and the Judiciary Committee also backs the move.

The resolution recalls that on Nov 3, 2007, President Musharraf imposed emergency rule and required all Supreme Court justices to take a new oath of office under the Provisional Constitution Order and dismissed seven judges, including the Chief Justice, who refused to take this new oath.

“This resolution welcomes these statements and encourages other civilian leaders in Pakistan to make similar public statements of their intent to restore to office all judges dismissed after November 3, 2007.”

In addition, consistent with Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008, which withholds $50,000,000 of Foreign Military Financing for Pakistan pending the restoration of an independent judiciary, this resolution also calls on the government of Pakistan to reinstate all Supreme Court and high court justices and other members of the legal profession in Pakistan who were removed from office since the imposition of emergency rule.

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Re: US says president can dismiss parliament if judges restored.

Aalsi, your spin on the news is commendable but hardly honest. You implied that US is tacitly agreeing to Mushy dismissing the Parliament if the Parliament goes ahead with restoring the judges. This is farthest from the truth. The entire hearing in the US Congress, and in fact the overall feeling amongst US lawmakers is that the Parliament should be free to make these decisions and they are wholly skeptical of giving Mushy (or any President) the power to ignore the will of the people, by dismissing the parliament.

I grant that you posted this piece of news in Feb 10th, much before the whole house of cards came down, so you can be excused for still blindly believing that US is the be-all and end-all of Pakistani political scene.

In fact, when I read the news now, US seems to be distancing itself from Musharraf and has understood that the tide has changed. Masha Allah. Alhamdollilah. And Subhan Allah.

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It doesn't matter if the American policy is still pro - Musharraff or not. What does matter, is the fact that the U.S has no right to make any statement relating to any domestic political situation. We can never be an independent nation, so long as other countries comment on our intricate delicate situations.

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Re: US says president can dismiss parliament if judges restored.

As if it is not :rolleyes:

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^ If US had its way, Benazir will still be alive and will now be forming a coalition government with PML-Q and happily working under the thumb of Mushy. That was the dream scenario for the US, which was why BB was sent back to Pakistan. The rest, as they say, is history.

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Aalsi,

That is very old news. Read post by Captain1. Uncle Sam changes statements too often. Anyway if Mush does that blunder, Mush ka aap aor hum hashar nashar dekhain gay. You want that anarchy happen to Pakistan but that is not going to happen what is in your mind, trust me:D

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Re: US says president can dismiss parliament if judges restored.

Benazir's is an unfortunate and a completely different issue.

How to become famous on GS
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Re: US says president can dismiss parliament if judges restored.

Don't worry...no anarchy would happen...Pakistanis are pretty resiliant.

Which celebrity have you been told you look like?
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Faisal bhaijan. No need to panic. Great President Musharaf is not going anywhere and the great USA is not going to change its policy. With the crisis in PPP, the great USA knows that only the great President Musharaf can continue to hold Pakistan together, and it would not allow the judiciary issue to get in the way.

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Aalsi,

Not really. Mush has to leave, if judges are restored, according to Mush’s allies. Read following.:smiley:

http://www.dawn.com/2008/03/19/nat1.htm

PML-Q thinks it was ditched by Musharraf

By Ashraf Mumtaz
LAHORE, March 18: Despite reiterations of its stand to support President Pervez Musharraf under all circumstances, the PML-Q now thinks that the president may have to step down if the new coalition government succeeds in fulfilling its promise to reinstate the deposed judges.

**“In case the sacked judges are restored, President Musharraf will be left with no option but to resign,” said a senior party leader privy to behind-the-scene developments and the nature of contacts between the PPP and the president.
**
**According to him, the president already stood sidelined and was not in a position to use his constitutional powers in the changed situation because of the numerical strength in the National Assembly of the PPP, PML-N, ANP and JUI-F which have agreed to form a coalition at the centre. He said the president’s survival in office was linked to the fate of the deposed judges.

“In case the judges are back, the president will have to pack up”.
**
This is the first time that people in the PML-Q have

started saying that the man who had cobbled together their party ahead of the 2002 elections and then kept it in power for five years, cornering the PPP and the PML-N, did not appear to have a smooth political future.

According to this leader, in their back channel talks the PPP had assured President Musharraf that it would not support any move to impeach him or restore the sacked judges. But, he said, it now appeared that the PML-N had created a situation in which the PPP leadership was not in a position to adhere to the assurances it had given to the president.

PPP and the PML-N sources say that the two parties would continue to mount pressure on the president to quit, but it is less likely that they will go for impeaching him despite having the required numerical strength.

“In the prevailing situation the president will face an impeachment-like situation every day because of the ruling coalition’s strength. But we’ll not have to annoy the main backer of President Musharraf, the United States, by trying to oust him,” said PML-N sources, hoping that the former army chief would not be able to face the pressure for long and would ultimately give up.

A PML-Q leader, who did not want to be named, alleged that President Musharraf had changed his attitude towards his party at the time of polls in an attempt to have good ties with the PPP he thought would be his new ally. The leadership had experienced the change a few days after the polls.

The PML-Q president called former minister Ishaq Khakwani, who was defeated by PML-N’s Tehmina Daultana by about over a 1,000 votes, to Islamabad for an important meeting. Another former federal minister, who was defeated on two seats, was also there.

The former ruling party chief told the two former ministers to approach a senior official of the Election Commission with a vote recount plea, assuring them that they would get relief as the official had received necessary instructions from the presidency.

They ‘reported’ to the said official but were surprised to find that contrary to their expectations the official’s attitude was quite different. However, they submitted their pleas and started waiting for the outcome.

When no action was taken in the next few days, they approached the party leadership for further instructions. The PML-Q chief reportedly told them that he had been trying to talk to the president for a few days but his call was not getting through.

This led the PML-Q leadership to believe that the president had changed his political partners.

**However, the PML-Q leaders are happy that the president who had tried to outsmart them had himself been outmaneuvered by the parties he had been cursing in the past.
**

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I guess Mush's biggest mistake was to shed his uniform. It's just like a soldier without his ammunition at the front of the battle...If he does not, he becomes utterly useless in al this Pakistani Drama.

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Mashallah. Again, more nameless sources

Judiciary is not going to do anything. The predictions of great President Musharaf 's demise have been nothing but wishful thinking by some since 1999. The political parties have bigger things to worry about, e.g. who will be the PM.

All the aces remain with great President Musharaf. Like the original article suggests, the power remains with great President Musharaf. :)

Faysal Bank T20 Tournament Sep-Oct 2011
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^main na manoo.:D