I had the good fortune of attending the simple ceremony in which the flag was hoisted at the residence of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on March 22 in the presence of the lawyers, members of the civil society and representatives of some of the political parties. The occasion marking the success of the lawyers' hard and long struggle for the restoration of the judiciary was of historic significance as it had the potential of strengthening the independence of judiciary and the rule of law in the country. Undoubtedly a lot more needs to be done for the realisation of these objectives, so essential for political stability and justice in Pakistan, but at least the first step was taken in that direction. Above all, the message was sent to the present and future rulers of the country not to mess with the judiciary. Although the PPP tried to put on a brave face and claim the credit for the restoration of the chief justice and the remaining judges of the superior judiciary, it was clear that President Asif Ali Zardari, his close advisers and the PPP in general had to eat humble pie under the mounting public pressure and restore the chief justice whom they had wrongly accused of being political. The clear winners, politically speaking, were Nawaz Sharif, the PML-N and other political parties which had thrown their weight fully behind the lawyers' struggle for the restoration of the judiciary. The issue was finally clinched when Nawaz Sharif, despite the government restrictions and threats to his personal security, came out of his house to lead the long march and the people responded enthusiastically to his call for support. After that it didn't take Asif Ali Zardari and the establishment in Islamabad long to read the writing on the wall and agree to the restoration of the judiciary. This was, in the ultimate analysis, the people's victory over the forces of tyranny and oppression which had persecuted them in the past. Now that the civil society and the people at large have realized the strength of their voice, the present and future governments in Pakistan will find it hard to ignore them. So the future of Pakistan will be far different from its past given a civil society emboldened by the success of the lawyers' struggle, a vibrant media, an assertive judiciary and the growing political consciousness among the masses. Political leaders can no longer expect their party members to follow them blindly. There is increasing tendency among members of the various parties to question and, if necessary, criticise the decisions of their leaders. These are all hopeful signs for Pakistan's evolution into a mature democratic polity in due course provided the nation's march towards full-fledged democracy is not again interrupted by another military takeover. Despite the relative optimism which prevails in the country as a result of the restoration of the judiciary, one must underscore that the nation has taken merely a small step towards the goals of political stability, justice, economic prosperity and the well-being of the people. Much more needs to be done if we wish to make our mark in the comity of nations. The country is beset with serious internal and external challenges demanding an enlightened leadership at the national and provincial levels fully dedicated to the strengthening of democracy and the raising of the living standard of the people who have suffered far too long under an exploitative and oppressive system. Perhaps the most important task that awaits the serious attention of our governments and political leaders is the strengthening of the various institutions of the state. Immediate steps need to be taken for the repeal of the 17th amendment barring those provisions, which enjoy widespread support within the nation, with a view to rectifying the balance of power between the president, on the one hand, and the Parliament and the prime minister, on the other. The lackadaisical manner in which the president referred to this important issue in his address to the joint session of the Parliament on March 28 did not reflect the urgency with which it needs to be tackled. Obviously as long as the president continues to enjoy the dictatorial powers that had been appropriated by Pervez Musharraf, the tender plant of democracy will fail to take root in the country. A democratic set-up presumes a scheme of checks and balances among the various institutions of the state. A situation in which one organ of the state acquires preponderant weight can only lead to arbitrary and ill-considered decisions, invite political instability and weaken democracy. The urgency of the repeal of the 17th amendment, therefore, cannot be over-emphasised. An efficient and honest bureaucracy is indispensable for the effective functioning of any government through providing objective advice in the formulation of policies, faithfully implementing its policies and ensuring continuity in its functioning as leaders come and go through the electoral process. It is imperative that the bureaucracy is apolitical so as to give its well-considered advice to the government of the day on important issues in the best national interest rather than for serving the personal interests of their political masters. Unfortunately, the past three decades have seen a sad trend towards the growing politicisation of the bureaucracy. The result is the wholesale demoralisation of the bureaucracy, disregard of merit in its recruitment and functioning for the sake of petty political considerations, and marked decline in its efficiency. Every possible effort must be made to arrest and reverse this unfortunate trend towards the politicisation of the bureaucracy which is perhaps the single most important factor responsible for its increasing ineffectiveness and inefficiency. The raison d'etre of the state is the establishment of law and order, provision of justice to the people and the promotion of their economic well-being. Looked at from this perspective, the PPP government would get only C grade on the basis of its performance in the first year of its rule. The poor state of the economy in general and the energy crisis in particular reflect gross mismanagement of the economy. The poor continue to suffer under grinding poverty while the ruling elite wallow in luxurious lifestyles. There are daily incidents reflecting the breakdown of the law and order machinery in the country. The terrorist attacks including the ones on the Sri Lankan cricket team last month and the police training centre at Manawan near Wagah border on March 30 reflect massive failures of our intelligence establishment in penetrating and neutralising the terrorist cells in the country. The government must take urgent corrective steps to establish the rule of law, improve the performance of our intelligence agencies and reform the oppressive and exploitative system prevalent in our country to provide speedy justice to the down-trodden and to ameliorate the living conditions of the common man. Two essential ingredients of the rule of law are the supremacy of law and the equality before law. An effective law enforcement machinery staffed by officials having a high sense of integrity in addition to an honest and independent judiciary is an indispensable condition for the establishment of the rule of law. We must make sure that anybody who violates the law gets the punishment that he deserves irrespective of his rank and stature in the society. The military takeovers in the country in the past have not only uprooted the tender plant of democracy in the country from time to time but they have also delivered a severe blow to the sanctity of the constitution and the rule of law. It is in this perspective that the trial of General (retd) Pervez Musharraf on the charge of high treason in accordance with Article 6 of the constitution to punish him for his repeated violations of the constitution and deter future adventurers assumes special importance. The writer is a retired ambassador E-mail: javid.husain@gmail.com