Former president Pervez Musharraf remains in the news. The question of his trial – for violating the basic law of the land – has locked the nation in a bitter controversy. The issue once more raises the matter of military supremacy over the civilian infrastructure. Mian Nawaz Sharif used his speech on the occasion of Independence Day in Lahore to bring up the matter and ask the army to distance itself from Musharraf so he could be held accountable for past deeds. While the PML-N bays for blood, other elements seek safety for the man who, with western backing, ruled Pakistan from 1999 to 2008. An influential former British High Commissioner to Pakistan has recently paid a rather mysterious visit to the country, on what some have reported was essentially a ’save Musharraf’ mission. The fact the prime minister apparently opted not to meet a man who had campaigned in the past for his release from jail has added to these suspicions, even though the British government has denied this was the real purpose behind the trip.

The question of Musharraf goes beyond that of a single man and his doings. There are those who argue that letting him get away with his actions would simply raise the possibility of others in the future treading confidently down the same road and inflicting just as much damage on the nation. They hold that making an example of Musharraf would prevent others from so easily seizing power in the country through the use of force, and thereby serve the interests of Pakistan by bolstering its civilian forces. There is in this a great deal of weight. Few would doubt Pakistan needs a period of uninterrupted civilian rule and the grant of an opportunity to people to use their ballots to throw out representatives who have disappointed them. They have not been able to do so after all for decades, with four elected governments since 1988 thrown out before they could complete their tenure. Against this chain of reasoning, there are those that argue Pakistan today, above all else, needs political stability and must move on beyond its present problems.

The issue appears to split the government, with the president and the prime minister apparently standing on opposite sides of the divide. This in itself has become a source of uncertainty and conflict. There can be little doubt we need to break with the tradition of military interventions. The fact that we have seen so many since the birth of Pakistan is a key factor in the failure to resolve our crisis of politics. Putting Pervez Musharraf on trial – before judges he dismissed summarily – would send out a strong message. Perhaps it would drive home key lessons we need to learn. But this having been said, the key need is for the civilian government to show it is capable of living up to the expectations of people. The corruption and mismanagement that has plagued successive governments has been a factor in strengthening other institutions. This too is something we need to accept and take heed of as we wrestle with the latest dilemma we face and demands grow for Musharraf to be brought back to face his countrymen and to answer for his misdeeds.

-Source: The News-

ISLAMABAD: Former president Pervez Musharraf will face arrest if he returns to Pakistan after police registered a case against him on Tuesday over his detention of judges during 2007.

“He could either be arrested on his return or through Interpol,” said Hakam Khan, head of a police station in Islamabad where the case was lodged. If convicted, Musharraf could be jailed for three years, he added.

“He detained judges and ousted them illegally so he has to be tried for his illegal and unconstitutional actions,” Muhammad Aslam Ghuman, the lawyer who filed the case against Musharraf, told Reuters. Additional Sessions Judge Akmal Khan had ordered the Secretariat police to register the FIR on the application of Ghuman during a hearing on Monday.

Muhammad Ali Saif, Musharraf’s legal adviser, lashed out against the case registration. “There is no reality in these accusations, we don’t accept it, a lobby funded by Nawaz Sharif is behind all this drama,” he told AFP. Praising the case registration, a PML-N spokesman reiterated calls for Musharraf to stand trial for high treason.

-Source: Daily Times-

Former president Pervez Musharraf can be tried on charges of high treason if parliament passes a resolution by simple majority, said Attorney General Sardar Latif Khosa on Monday.

The attorney general made the comments while addressing journalists after the oath-taking ceremony of Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali at the Supreme Court (SC). Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry swore in Justice Jamali as an SC judge.

Khosa said following the SC verdict declaring the November 2007 emergency unconstitutional, Musharraf could be charged with high treason but only through a parliamentary resolution – which, if approved, would make it necessary for the federal government to take action. However, he said it was for parliament to decide if action was to be taken against Musharraf in light of the SC verdict.

The attorney general said misconduct references, under Article 209 of the constitution, would be sent to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) against judges who took oath under the PCO while the emergency was imposed.

He said SC judges Faqir Muhammad Khokhar and M Javed Buttar also took oath during the emergency “in violation of an SC order … references against them would also be sent to the SJC”. He said the references against judges affected by the SC decision would be filed by the chief justice.

He said according to rules, the SJC was the platform where references of misconduct were heard against serving judges. He said if a judge resigned before or during SJC proceedings, the council dropped the case against him, and “he stands eligible for all post-retirement benefits”. He said a judge against whom a reference had been filed remained an arbiter until the completion of the SJC proceedings.

He said if judges – who did not quit before or during the SJC proceedings – were found guilty of misconduct, they were stripped of their pension and other post-retirement benefits.

Khosa said the 37 ordinances promulgated by Musharraf would soon be sent to parliament for a decision on whether they should be disposed of or kept intact. He said the SC had asked for a briefing on the ordinances the government intended to keep intact.

The SC – in a short order on the November 2007 emergency – settled all matters directly related to the judiciary, and referred the 37 ordinances to parliament for a decision on their fate.

SJC: Earlier, senior-most judge of the SC Justice Javed Iqbal said the SJC could meet within a week to decide the fate of PCO judges.

-Source: Daily Times-

ISLAMABAD: Former president Pervez Musharraf has vacated the Army House – 18 months after retiring as the Chief of Army Staff.

Reliable sources told Dawn on Saturday that belongings of the former army chief had been moved to his house at Chak Shahzad farm house, near Tamri Chowk. They were not sure when Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the COAS, will shift to the Army House.

Gen (retired) Rashid Qureshi, who had twice served as Gen (retd) Musharraf’s spokesman, said as he was in Karachi, he was not in a position to confirm the evacuation.He said the former president would soon return home after a lecture tour of several countries. ‘He (Pervez Musharraf) has no plan to settle abroad,’ Gen Qureshi added.

However, the sources said, very few belongings of the former army chief had been moved to Chak Shahzad. They said it was not clear whether or not Gen Musharraf intended to settle down in Chak Shahzad.

Gen Musharraf had retired from the army on Nov 28, 2007. But he continued living in the Army House as the government declared the premises as official residence of the President of Pakistan on Dec 6. However, the residence, constructed for the current Army Chief remained in his possession.

NEW YORK: Former president Pervez Musharraf has expressed the confidence that Pakistan army will prevail over the Taliban who have challenged the writ of the government, but said that ‘winning hearts and minds’ of people may be difficult.

Talking to some Pakistani reporters at a hotel here on Friday, Gen (retd) Musharraf rejected a suggestion that Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan had come to the fore during his watch.

‘This was the consequence of the Feb 18 election and the Taliban got strong then as they got a free hand under the new ANP government,’ he said. ‘In my time they were hiding,’ he claimed. However, he added, ‘I am convinced that our army will drive the enemies of the state away but we have to win the hearts and minds also.’

As to how long could such an operation last, he said it was difficult to predict. Asked about the security of Pakistan’s nuclear assets, Musharraf said they were ‘absolutely secure’, adding that people of Pakistan would never allow anyone to capture them.

When a reporter suggested that when he was president he did everything according to American wishes, Musharraf said: ‘I never bowed before anybody and did everything in Pakistan’s best interest.’

In reply to a charge that he was involved in the murder of Baloch leader Akbar Bugti and arrest of JSQM (Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz) leader Dr Safdar Saraki, he said: ‘I will not dignify your question with an answer.’

In an interview with CNN, the former president said he would run for office once the two-year restriction expired. According to him, President Zardari with an approval rating of 19 per cent did not have the support to fight Taliban.

‘If Pakistan is in trouble and if any Pakistani, myself included – if you can see that we can do something for it – well … my life is for Pakistan,’ he told Fareed Zakaria on GPS.

Musharraf said he wished the government well. ‘But one is concerned about Pakistan, certainly,’ he said. ‘One does get concerned about where we are headed and what are we doing.’