PAKISTAN'S Supreme Court yesterday reinstated three judges ousted by Pervez Musharraf, the former president, in another victory for the man set to succeed him as head of state today.
Mr Musharraf's purge of the court last year deepened his unpopularity and helped the party of the assassinated former leader Benazir Bhutto to victory in February's elections. Ms Bhutto's widower and political heir, Asif Ali Zardari, marshalled a
coalition that forced Mr Musharraf to quit last month. Mr Zardari is expected to win easily when MPs elect a new president today.
Yesterday's move in the Supreme Court diminished the prospect of Mr Musharraf being dragged through the courts on treason charges or forced into exile.
The second-largest party has quit the ruling alliance because of Mr Zardari's refusal to restore the judges en masse – including the ousted chief justice, Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry. Tassadiq Hussain Jillani, Shakirullah Jan and Syed Jamshed Ali were sworn back into the court yesterday.
Farooq Naek, the law minister, said Mr Chaudhry was also welcome to take a fresh oath, but said he could not return as chief justice as removing his successor could trigger a "constitutional impasse".
The move deepens the rift between Mr Zardari's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and that of Nawaz Sharif, a former prime minister, now the most powerful group in the opposition. Mr Zardari had refused calls for the government to restore the judges by arguing that it required constitutional amendments to untangle a legal mess bequeathed by Mr Musharraf.
Mr Naek, a PPP member, said the government still wanted to discuss that approach. But Mr Zardari has been highly critical of Mr Chaudhry, who stood up to Mr Musharraf and questioned a pact that he signed to quash long-standing corruption charges against Mr Zardari and Ms Bhutto.
Mr Zardari has accused Mr Chaudhry of "playing politics" and called for sweeping judicial reforms expected to crimp the ability of the court to check the activities of the government.
The full article contains 335 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
