Former President and Retired General Pervez Musharraf challenged the rejection of his nomination papers in the 2013 general elections in the Supreme Court on Thursday. The papers had been rejected on the ground that he had violated the constitution by imposing an emergency in November 2007, apart from undertaking unlawful actions against the judges of the higher courts including removal and house arrest of the former chief justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Chaudhary. A high treason case under article 6 of the constitution was launched after the PML-N took over the reins of the government and referred the matter to a special court which mentioned Zahid Hamid as one of the abettors of the former President in arriving at the decision to impose the emergency. The lawyer of the former president has argued that the President had only acted after consulting the cabinet and the then Law Minister Zahid Hamid and many other important functionaries of his erstwhile government.
Zahid Hamid, labelled a turncoat, was surprisingly allowed to contest the elections under the banner of PML-N and rose to become a Federal Minister under the Nawaz-led government in 2013. No action was taken by the returning officer or any other court against Zahid Hamid who was holding the portfolio of Law at the time. He resigned from the cabinet position after his name was mentioned in the decision of the special court.
The General’s plea, to the extent that he has been singled out and is being victimised, seems quite logical. Nobody acts in isolation in any form of government, be it democratic or dictatorial. The hierarchical and consultative character of the decision making process is always maintained, disregarding the fact that a dictator may influence the nature and form of the final decision. The people who chose to be part of such governments should never be absolved of sharing the responsibility and should be held accountable if the occasion arises. Pakistan has always suffered from the actions of such political vagrants who are there to support the military dictators taking full advantage even in dark times, and then jump the ship and join the newly emerging forces. It is an ironic that the current rulers are the same who were vociferously announcing their commitment to the mission of General Zia till they were kicked out in 1999 by the army. It is expected that the decision of the court will be a landmark in shunning such opportunists and will strengthen democracy.