Mustafa Qadri

Faced with terrorism, a flagging economy and a raft of potential lawsuits, how long can Pakistan’s president survive?

Mustafa Qadri
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 27 January 2010 15.10 GMT

With his chequered past and unlikely rise to the top, it is understandable that Asif Ali Zardari has faced constant calls to resign ever since becoming president of Pakistan two years ago. The central focus of the grievances has been Pakistan’s supreme court where a raft of charges have been submitted against Zardari and most of the senior leaders of the ruling Pakistan Peoples party by a motley mix of political parties, private citizens, and the court itself.

But in the glasshouse that is Pakistani politics the risk is that perceptions of judicial independence will be shattered by all the stone throwing. To understand the fracas it is necessary to consider recent history. After public pressure forced the Zardari government to reinstate Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, there was widespread celebration that at last Pakistan had found one institution that was above the cronyism that has plagued political life here.

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The knives are out when dictators fall from power, but the politics of retribution is rarely clean or cathartic

Mustafa Qadri
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 30 August 2009 17,00 BST

The tables turn quickly in politics, but for dictators the shift from all-powerful to powerless can be rather sudden. Over a period of 12 months, the last Shah of Iran went from feared dictator to refugee who struggled to find asylum in three different continents (including the US, his one-time staunchest supporter).

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The Supreme Court ordered on Wednesday that the Punjab government regularise 97 ad hoc lecturers within three day…

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Registrar Office of Supreme Court of Pakistan has raised the objections on all the four review petitions filed by Federation early on Thursday against court’s verdict in Sharif brothers’ eligibility case. According to the SC registrar, the petitions miss necessary documents, including surety bonds, court fees, paper books and copy of the court’s earlier verdict [...]

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“A long wait for justice” NewMatilda.com 4 August 2008
(On the state of Pakistan’s lawyers’ movement)

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