New Pakistani prime minister frees judges

Throughout his presidency George Bush has never had a policy for dealing with Pakistan, he has had a policy for dealing with Musharraf. That policy now lies in tatters as Musharraf's lack of power is laid bare for all to see.

Pakistan's new prime minister ordered the release from house arrest of the country's former chief justice within minutes of coming to power yesterday, driving home how rapidly President Pervez Musharraf's authority is ebbing.

Shortly after he was elected by a thumping majority by the new parliament, Yousaf Raza Gilani ordered the release of about 10 judges, headed by Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, who have been illegally detained at home since November 3.

The Islamabad police had already received the message and lifted the barbed wire from around the judges' homes less than a mile away. Activists flooded towards Chaudhry's house, some scaling the low walls of what had officially been termed a sub-jail less than an hour earlier. The judge stood at the balcony with his wife and three children and addressed the raucous crowd squeezed into his garden. "I do not have words to thank you all," he said as fistfuls of petals filled the air.

It was Chaudhry's first public appearance in almost five months. But he said the fight for a free judiciary was not over. "We must keep our efforts focused for a bright future for Pakistan for the rule of law and the supremacy of the constitution," he said.

Supporters, many of whom have clashed with police armed with batons and tear gas over recent months, appeared dazed that their hero was finally free. "This is the victory of the people," declared Saeed Mehmood, a lawyer from nearby Rawalpindi. "I feel proud to be a Pakistani," said Athar Minallah, a confidant of the judge.

The government has promised to reinstate 60 judges fired by Musharraf, at least 10 of whom were under house arrest, within 30 days. A senior city administrator told state media that "all deposed judges are free to move".

It's the wonderful thing about elections, the people are free to elect representatives who will overturn decisions which they vehemently disagree with. Of course, Bush has been keen to have the Pakistan election count for nothing and has been badgering the Pakistanis to work with Musharraf.

The emotional scenes followed historic changes at the parliament where Gilani, an understated loyalist of the assassinated opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, was elected with 264 votes against 42 for Musharraf's man, Pervaiz Elahi.

"Democracy has been revived due to the sacrifice of Benazir Bhutto," he said in his first remarks as prime minister. Bhutto's son and political heir, 19-year-old Bilawal, watched from the visitor's gallery, wiping a tear from his eye.

Gilani's victory underlined the strength of the four-party coalition, which has the potential to become one of the most powerful civilian governments in Pakistan's history.

Musharraf's options look increasingly unappealing. The new government enjoys the two-thirds majority necessary to bring an impeachment motion against him. Even if he can stave off that prospect, Musharraf's powers are likely to be slashed by the government, reducing him to a largely symbolic role.

One can imagine similar scenes in the US when a new President closes Guantanamo Bay and restores Habeas Corpus. The feeling of a nightmare being over, of order and the rule of law being restored.

The Bush regime have acted consistently outside of the law, indeed, they operated at times outside of the law to such an extent that former Attorney General John Ashcroft, Director Robert S. Mueller III of the F.B.I. and other senior Justice Department aides all threatened to resign unless Bush cease whatever it was that he was doing and return to the rule of law. And when one considers what a right wing figure Ashcroft was, one can only guess at what level of illegality would be needed to have him threaten to resign from a Republican administration.

So, when one watches these scenes being played out in Pakistan, these abuses of power being brought to an end by a democratic vote, one can't help but pray for the day that the same process takes place in the most powerful nation on Earth.

Musharraf's illegality affected most of us only as spectators, but Bush's illegality affected swathes of the planet, especially here in Europe, where we had to witness a British Attorney General declaring the Iraq war legal without a second resolution, when weeks earlier he had been arguing the very opposite. Indeed, the U-turn which the Attorney General made was so sudden that it prompted the resignation of Elizabeth Wilmshurst, deputy legal adviser to the Foreign Office, who stated in her resignation letter:

My views accord with the advice that has been given consistently in this office before and after the adoption of UN security council resolution 1441 and with what the attorney general gave us to understand was his view prior to his letter of 7 March. (The view expressed in that letter has of course changed again into what is now the official line.)

I cannot in conscience go along with advice - within the Office or to the public or Parliament - which asserts the legitimacy of military action without such a resolution, particularly since an unlawful use of force on such a scale amounts to the crime of aggression; nor can I agree with such action in circumstances which are so detrimental to the international order and the rule of law.

But there was the feeling that the rules didn't matter and the law was whatever those in power decided it to be at any given moment.

The past eight years have been a very dark time in history and I honestly believe the Bush regime will be studied by future historians as a lesson to be learned about how the rule of law can be set aside by duplicitous politicians claiming to be acting for the good of all simply by citing national security.

But the sidelining of Musharraf reminds us all of the words of Gandhi:

"When I despair, I remember that all through history, the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time they seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it, always."

And, as Musharraf is sidelined and rendered impotent, we must take heart and remember that one day soon the days of Bush will be over and the rule of law will be restored.

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Tags: Musharraf, Pakistan, Chaudhry, judges released, Yousaf Raza Gilani, Bush, rule of law, democracy, legality