Opinion - News Analysis

Assessing the lawyers’ “long march”

When Pakistan’s lawyers, accompanied by political party activists and other citizen protesters set out last Tuesday in their thousands from Multan to Islamabad via Lahore, they aimed to raise such overwhelming pressure that the Pakistan People’s Party-led government would have no option but to cave in to its demand: the unconditional restoration of the judiciary through a government order following a resolution in the National Assembly.

The impact of the march is still being debated, particularly as nothing has yet changed on the ground as far as the lawyers’ demand is concerned. Aitzaz Ahsan, the Supreme Court Bar Association President, described the march as a “resounding success” as it had demonstrated massive public support for the restoration of the judges. On the other hand, the PPP still remains unyielding about not restoring the judges in the manner demanded by the lawyers, underlining instead its readiness to reinstate them in its own way.

Last week, as the lawyers launched into the “long march,” the government quietly inserted a provision in the 2008-2009 budget to provide for the salaries of 29 Supreme Court judges instead of the present 16. The number is meant to include 10 deposed judges of the court, including the sacked chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhary.

The PPP has proposed that the reinstatement take place through a package of constitutional amendments that also drastically cuts President Musharraf’s powers, but gives all his actions during the emergency legal indemnity. It also places restrictions on the reinstated judges while retaining the handpicked judges of President Musharraf.

A public fracas among the lawyers over what to do next, after the march culminated last Friday night in a rally of about 20,000 in the Pakistani capital — huge by recent standards, but nowhere near the projected 200,000 — also highlighted the confusion, frustration and fatigue of a movement that powered most of the political changes through the last year, yet has failed to achieve its principal objective.

Having a democratic government appears only to have increased the confusion. All of last year, President Musharraf was the clear target and the movement built itself on “Go Musharraf Go.”

At the start of the long march, the lawyers’ leadership declared that President Musharraf had weakened to a point that his quitting was only a matter of time, hence the “long march” should zero in on Parliament. The PPP’s reluctance to see the issue through the lawyers’ prism has also made it an “enemy” of the cause but its insistence that it supports the restoration of the judges has rendered the battle lines unclear.

As the rally ended, some lawyers wanted to sit-in indefinitely until their demand for unconditional restoration of the dismissed judges to their pre-November 3 emergency position was met. A section wanted to charge towards the Aiwan-e-Sadr — the lit-up presidency building that loomed dramatically behind the rally as a reminder that President Musharraf lingered on — and the neighbouring National Assembly and Supreme Court.

But their leadership had already agreed to a “code of conduct” in return for the government agreeing to “facilitate” the long march. Police did not confront the rallyists, but provided security to the rally. They strung out containers across the roads leading to all the important government buildings, but allowed the lawyers to use one such barricade as a stage for the rally on the promise that the protesters would not cross it.

The government also provided water and civic amenities to the rallyists when they entered the capital. PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, who has been openly contemptuous of the lawyers’ movement and Mr. Ahsan, even sent dinner packets for the rallyists.

Those looking for a confrontation were disappointed. At the end of a sweaty night-long rally, when Mr. Ahsan, who is also a prominent PPP leader, announced in the early hours of Saturday that there were no plans for an indefinite dharna as the movement was constrained by resources, he was booed and accused of a “sell-out.”

But most observers are agreed that the main impact of the “long march” was in making apparent the increasing political isolation of the PPP. Supporters of the judges’ cause are hoping that this may force the party into a rethink and bring it back on the side of a popular cause.

The PPP, which prides itself on being the Pakistan’s only party of the people, has been roundly criticised for its conspicuous absence in the largest people’s rally that the capital has known.

In contrast, its coalition partner and rival, the Pakistan Muslim League (N), was present in large numbers although some lawyers privately complained that the PML(N) failed to mobilise the promised numbers. Still, the PML(N) showed up in a more pro-democracy light than the PPP, which is widely perceived as protecting or siding with an unpopular President Musharraf.

Information Minister Sherry Rehman bravely defended the PPP, declaring the government had made history by facilitating a protest, adding for good measure that while the PPP had always supported democratic causes, it was nice to see other parties doing the same.

But there was no denying that with his aggressive speak at the rally, suggesting that President Musharraf be hanged for his actions — “is hanging only for politicians?” — PML(N) leader Nawaz Sharif was actually putting the PPP on notice. With Pakistanis still identifying President Musharraf as the number one cause of their problems, it appears that Mr. Sharif, who wants him held accountable for every action, has been better at reading the popular pulse. The ball is now in the PPP’s court, and Mr. Zardari’s political prowess on test.

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