Barely three months after rival factions formed a coalition to oust President Pervez Musharraf from office, the Pakistan Muslim League-N party has left the cabinet and all federal posts due to disputes over the 60 judges who were fired under the military rule of Musharraf in November. The leader of League-N, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, has declared that his party will stay in Parliament because they “do not want to destabilize the democratic process” despite their protests. Sharif’s party has strong popular support, as many of the Pakistani people have demonstrated their wish for the re-reinstatement of the judges through public protests.
Yet many view this judicial question as rather trivial, given the other political battles that the government is fighting—including battling extremists and boosting the declining economy. Yet the split has helped to outline the corruption of state officials—while some are calling for the restoration of the original judicial line-up, those who support Musharraf are favoring the new judge line-up. And the political break-down is possibly giving leeway for the unpopular president to reassert his power, as he did in November when a court threatened his rule in a case that was to decide the legality of his presidency.
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