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Nawaz Sharif
Major Party Pulls out of Pakistan Government
May 12, 2008 7:26 PM
by
findingDulcinea Staff
by Anne Szustek
The party of former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the PML-N, is leaving the government only three months after being elected.
The party of former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the PML-N, is leaving the government only three months after being elected.
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The PML-N’s resignation is the result of a policy stalemate with the majority Pakistan People’s Party regarding the reinstatement of some 60 federal judges who were fired by President Pervez Musharraf on Nov. 3.
The PML-N said on its Web site that without the judges’ reinstatement, “the country has little hopes of a bright future.”
The PPP is willing to put the judges back in power, but only if limitations are placed on their jurisdiction. However, the PML-N wants the judges to be reinstated with all the powers they had before their removal.
The Supreme Court, where some of the former judges served, was to rule on the legality of Musharraf’s re-election in November. But before the court could decide, the president declared a state of emergency and sacked the judges.
Sharif said that the May 12 deadline to reinstate the judges was a precondition for the PML-N’s coalition with the PPP. The two parties agreed on March 9 to return the judges to power—a move that would have stripped Musharraf of “crucial powers.”
Sharif, who himself was deposed as prime minister by a Musharraf-led military coup in 1999, said that he and his party would continue to support the PPP on an “issue-by-issue” basis, assuring the majority party that the PML-N “will not become part of any conspiracy to destabilize the democratic process.”
See AP coverage
The PML-N said on its Web site that without the judges’ reinstatement, “the country has little hopes of a bright future.”
The PPP is willing to put the judges back in power, but only if limitations are placed on their jurisdiction. However, the PML-N wants the judges to be reinstated with all the powers they had before their removal.
The Supreme Court, where some of the former judges served, was to rule on the legality of Musharraf’s re-election in November. But before the court could decide, the president declared a state of emergency and sacked the judges.
Sharif said that the May 12 deadline to reinstate the judges was a precondition for the PML-N’s coalition with the PPP. The two parties agreed on March 9 to return the judges to power—a move that would have stripped Musharraf of “crucial powers.”
Sharif, who himself was deposed as prime minister by a Musharraf-led military coup in 1999, said that he and his party would continue to support the PPP on an “issue-by-issue” basis, assuring the majority party that the PML-N “will not become part of any conspiracy to destabilize the democratic process.”
See AP coverage
Headline Link: ‘Pakistan Government Set to Split’
The BBC writes that both the PPP and the PML-N “were eager to avoid the appearance of a major rift, but analysts called the pull-out a huge set-back that could lead to growing instability.”
Source: The BBC
Background: Recent PPP/PML-N coalition moves
Pakistan’s two main opposition parties agreed to form a coalition government. Together, the parties of assassinated former premier Benazir Bhutto and of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif won a majority in Pakistan's parliamentary election on Feb. 28.
Source: The BBC
Pakistan's two major political parties agreed March 9 to reinstate the judges dismissed by President Pervez Musharraf. The deal between Pakistan Peoples Party leader Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif, head of the Pakistan Muslim League-N, will also strip Musharraf of "crucial powers," reports the Times.
Source: The New York Times (free registration may be required)
Reaction: ‘Restoration of Judiciary Linked to Country’s Development’
The Web site of the PML-N calls the judiciary the “jugular vein” of Pakistan, and without its independence from Musharraf, “the country has little hopes of a bright future.”
Source: PML-N
Historical Context: Pakistan
The Islamic Republic of Pakistan was founded in 1947, and has since seen numerous military coups. In fact, Pervez Musharraf first came to power in the October 1999 coup that ousted the government of then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The Economist provides historical, political and economic information about Pakistan.
Source: The Economist
Key Players: Nawaz Sharif and Yusuf Raza Gillani
Nawaz Sharif (1949–)
Sharif was born in Lahore in 1949. He studied at Government College Lahore, and then went on to law school at Punjab University. He was the finance minister in the Punjab Cabinet in 1981, and was elected chief minister of that province in 1985 and 1988. He became prime minister of Pakistan on Nov. 6, 1990, but was dismissed by the president in April 1993. He was reinstated, but had to resign with the president in July 1993. He was reelected as prime minister in 1997, but was ousted in a 1999 coup led by Gen. Pervez Musharraf.
Source: Nawaz Sharif’s official Web site
Yusuf Raza Gillani (1952–)
The BBC provides background on Pakistan’s new prime minister, Yusuf Raza Gillani, the Pakistan People’s Party member who is admired by supporters for refusing to deal with President Pervez Musharraf.
Source: The BBC
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