legal and political problems that have haunted Pakistan over the past two years. Rather, it has brought to the surface certain new issues including the kind of relationship that the restored chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan would like to have with the superior court judges who tried to block his restoration and sided with former military dictator General Pervez Musharraf during the campaign for independence of the judiciary. Apart from the judges led by the recently retired chief justice of Supreme Court, Abdul Hameed Dogar, who first backed Musharraf and then his successor President Zardari, Chief Justice Chaudhry would also have to contend with the more than 30 ad-hoc judges recently appointed by the president in the Lahore, Sindh and Islamabad high courts. Most of the recently appointed judges were affiliated to the ruling PPP, which is headed by Mr Zardari even after becoming the President of Pakistan, and some had contested the February 2008 general elections on the PPP's ticket. If Chaudhry opts not to recommend confirmation of all these judges, he risks another confrontation with the PPP-led coalition government and Zardari. 

Now that the victory celebrations are over, it would be realised that no real change can take place in the country unless the unconstitutional measures ordered by the then army chief General Musharraf after imposing emergency rule on November 2, 2007 are declared illegal and undone in letter and spirit. Once those actions are undone and the retired general made accountable as is being demanded by Nawaz Sharif and like-minded politicians such as Imran Khan and Qazi Hussain Ahmad, the principle of rule of law and independence of judiciary would be established. There have been media reports that a group of lawmakers wanted to strengthen Article 6 of the Constitution so that constitutional violations including military coups against democratically elected governments are judged as treason and punished accordingly. However, Pakistan's powerful military establishment may not allow this to happen. No military general who captured power in Pakistan has been made accountable to date and, therefore, putting Musharraf in the dock appears highly improbable.

Still Musharraf's desperate actions on November 3, 2007 likened to a martial law and undertaken to save his ill-gotten job and sustain his illegal rule, need to be judged in the light of Pakistan's Constitution and pronounced as unconstitutional to prevent such gross misuse of power in future. If this isn't done, former chief justice Dogar and other judges who agreed to take oath under General Musharraf's Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) won't be reprimanded for condoning the unconstitutional acts of a military ruler and stabbing in the back all those members of the judiciary who sacrificed their jobs for the sake of principles.

Though the PPP-led coalition government backed down in the face of an unprecedented public pressure following the 'long march' and agreed to reinstate the deposed judges, it refused to declare General Musharraf's November 3, 2007 actions as illegal and unconstitutional. While announcing the reinstatement of the senior judges, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani made it a point to mention that Chaudhry wasn't restored earlier as the country couldn't have two chief justices. President Zardari also argued subsequently that he wasn't against Chaudhry's restoration and was waiting for Dogar to retire on March 21, 2009 to make room for the deposed chief justice. It was obvious that this line of argument was unconvincing and was clearly meant to take away the credit from the people's power that forced the government to reinstate the deposed judges.

However, such an argument also showed that the ruling PPP, or its top leadership, still didn't want to declare Musharraf's emergency rule as extra-constitutional and the use of brute state power by him in the post-November 3, 2007 period against protesting lawyers, political workers and civil society members as unethical and undemocratic. Having benefited from some of the judgements handed down by the so-called Dogar Court including one that struck down the condition of having a graduation degree to hold elected public office and by resorting to the use of state power to thwart the recent 'long march,' it was understandable that President Zardari was unwilling to condemn Musharraf's actions. This kind of politics is self-serving instead of being principled.

It was amusing to watch the PPP also joining the celebrations marking the return of the deposed judges. After having resisted for more than a year the reinstatement of Chaudhry and his brother judges and reneged on verbal and written promises made to Nawaz Sharif to do so, President Zardari was in no position to term his turnaround as fulfillment of his wife and late PPP leader Benazir Bhutto's promise to restore the chief justice to his rightful office. By deciding to celebrate the momentous occasion, the president and his PPP made a crude attempt to do some damage control. But the damage had been done and it is unlikely that the PPP, once the party that the masses considered the vehicle for change in Pakistan's socio-economic system, would recover from the setback. Zardari inherited an impossible legacy when he became the PPP head in place of the assassinated chairperson-for-life Benazir Bhutto. He didn't have the calibre and the credibility to lead the party founded by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and strengthened by Benazir Bhutto.

Mediation efforts by JUI-F leader Maulana Fazlur Rahman and ANP president Asfandyar Wali Khan prior to the so-called 'long march' didn't succeed as both were political allies of President Zardari and were seen as protecting his interests. Nawaz Sharif didn't want to place his trust again in Zardari, who had thrice gone back on his written and verbal promises to restore the deposed judges.  Besides, Nawaz Sharif knew that the president had struck against his PML-N by imposing Governor's Rule in Punjab and removing his brother Shahbaz Sharif from the office of chief minister of Punjab. He definitely wanted his brother and PML-N's government restored in Punjab, though in his scheme of priorities the reinstatement of the judges had to be accomplished first.

Nawaz Sharif was also aware that his next battle against President Zardari and the PPP would be for control of Punjab, Pakistan's biggest and richest province. They were now political rivals in battleground Punjab even though the ruling PPP, particularly Prime Minister Gilani who after a rare meeting with Nawaz Sharif has been saying that reconciliation was possible between the two parties and that their political alliance would be revived. One would have to wait for this to happen as right now the Sharif brothers have decided to approach the Supreme Court following Chief Justice Chaudhry's reinstatement and the previous incumbent Dogar's retirement and a favourable court verdict would make them eligible to hold public office and pave the way for restoration of the Shahbaz Sharif-led PML-N-led government in Punjab.

On his part, Chaudhry after his triumphant return to the Supreme Court is confronted with huge challenges. The people and the lawyers expect him to pursue judicial activism as he was doing before Musharraf sacked him and take suo moto notice of public complaints to undo injustices by Pakistan's elite classes and the government functionaries against the poor and the dispossessed. He would in due course of time lose public support if he doesn't touch important court cases including that of the missing persons and the controversial National Reconciliation Order (NRO) that General Musharraf issued as part of a political deal with Benazir Bhutto. The masses want the Supreme Court to make the corrupt people from all walks of life accountable and to provide justice to the needy.

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