On Friday, the Supreme Court overturned convictions against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif for plane hijacking and terrorism. ‘Looking at the case from any angle — the charge of hijacking, attempt to hijack or terrorism does not stand established against the petitioner,’ the Supreme Court ruled on a petition filed by Sharif.
The PML-N has welcomed the decision and party spokesman Siddiqul Farooq has already announced that the party will now attempt to hold former president Pervez Musharraf ‘accountable.’
What are the implications of Sharif’s acquittal for Pakistani politics? What impact would a showdown between the Sharif brothers and Musharraf have on the political landscape? In light of the court’s ruling on the hijacking case as well as the reversal of the ban on the opposition leader’s holding office, what do you think the PML-N’s strategy will be for the next elections?
Decision is welcome and now PML(N) should go along with government and support its positive decicions. Congratulations Nawaz Sharif and PML(N).
Nawaz’s aquittal means ‘bad news’ for the past and future military dictators. I am for democracy, be it PPP, PMLN, PMLQ, MQM, ANP. The only thing that is dragging the country down is military takovers. If these ever stop and let 5-10 democracies take the course, Pakistan can be on the right track.
I am not saying this because of ‘my’ point of view but because if you look at the rest of the world….DEMOCRACY WORKS and nothing else does
same old story. how long can the people of Pakistan let these same corrupt people in to power again and again?
Musharraf should be punished on many counts, including the overthrow of elected governament. His potential involvement in the Akbar Bugti murder case should also be investigated.
I think every authoritarian ruler should be held accountable before the court of law for not obeying constitution of country.
A great day for people of Pakistan. The judiciary shows its independece. Now the judicary should decide other important cases.
I should hope that Nawaz Sharif would now contest first available and vacant seat for the Senate. He must be sitting in the house where he always belonged and should exert his influence in the chamber to check PPP government excesses.
It is good for the country that a powerful man like Nawaz Sharrif is seen to be sitting in the Senate and exerting his authority for the good of the country.
It’s about time that the feud between Nawaz and Musharraf was brought to an end.
This feud will not do anything to help the people of Pakistan if it is not brought to closure. I wish the three main players would show some true leadership and work as a team to move the nation forward and into the modern era leaving the stone age behind.
I hope Pakistan does not get left behind because of personal issues between the top brass.
It will impact our political scenario in a major way. It can change the balance of power in the national assembly as Mian Nawaz Sharif could come in the parliament. It will strengthen the parliamentary system in our country. I am a true supporter of democaracy & this should strenghten the democratic process.
I think that the current military establishment is still a keen sympathizer of Gen Musharraf and it will be a bitter pill to swallow for the Sharif brothers. Nawaz Sharif appears to be more mature politically, but Zardari has been trying best not to let him gain any advantage — as NRO was not the gift in kind – it must have immunity for the initiator. Hopefully, Nawaz can maintain his record of fighting for issues such as the COD – he might have a chance in the next elections.
This decision will be seen as an opportunity for PML-N to get their eminent leader back into the political ground openly and strike against old rivals.
This could be the start of a new pulling game between Nawaz Sharif and Musharraf in the court room. The PPP has to decide whether it will be with its former coalition partner or the one who they have been calling a dictator so far.
PML-N has a very high aim set for the next elections which may lead to uneasy ties between Zardari and Sharif.
It seems like the agenda over here is personal revenge rather than concentrating on the more severe matters at hand.
Nawaz Sharif should not start agitating in his pursuit of power after being cleared of all his cases. This will only cause instability in the country and weaken democracy. In addition to this Nawaz Sharif will find himself without the support of Sindh, Balochistan or NWFP if he unnecessarily pushes for mid term elections. Therefore Nawaz Sharif should play a positive role instead of populist and agitational politics.
As for the Musharraf-Nawaz rivalry, if Mr Sharif wants western support in the future which he does) then he will have to heed to pressure from the west to avoid opening the pandora’s box left behind by MUSH. But ideally speakin MUSH should be dragged into court and tried publicly for a historic example to be set against dictators.