THE party leading Pakistan's new coalition is drafting a constitutional package likely to sideline Iftikhar Chaudhary, the recently freed judge whose defiance of President Pervez Musharraf made him a cause celebre. Strains in the less-than-two-week-old coalition are foreseen when the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) submits its wide-ranging proposals for scrutiny, a move expected as soon as next week. The PPP, led by the late Benazir Bhutto's widower Asif Ali Zardari, is honor bound to reinstate Chaudhary as Chief Justice, and restore other judges Musharraf dismissed when he imposed six-weeks of emergency rule on Nov. 3. Last month Zardari signed an accord with Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister Musharraf overthrew in a military coup in 1999, to pass a resolution to bring back all the judges within 30 days of forming a government, which means it should happen by end-April. Pakistan's new political order will thank Chaudhary for precipitating the political shift that led to the defeat of pro-Musharraf parties in February's parliamentary poll, reinstate him and then try to wave him goodbye, analysts and others said. “Restoration will redeem his honor,” said a senior PPP official in government. “But this is about reforming the judiciary, not making heroes out of people.” However, reforms that dump Chaudhary will be hard-sell in a coalition founded on the premise all judges would be restored. “If there is any compromise on this issue then there are serious threats to the coalition,” Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan, senior minister from Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), told Reuters, adding that for now “all is well.” Cracks in the four-party alliance will encourage US ally Musharraf to believe he can survive without parliament's support. The United States is closely following Pakistan's political twists, as it fears more upheavals could interfere with the nuclear-armed Muslim state's commitment to fighting terrorism. Independent analysts say Zardari has Sharif's buy-in to ditch Chaudhary and the issue won't break the coalition. But Sharif won't say so publicly as he has to manage dissent in the PML-N. Both Zardari and Sharif spent time in jail under Musharraf and understand the need for Pakistan's political class to wrest control from a state establishment that supported a series of military governments during Pakistan's turbulent 61-year history. “They are together on the fundamental issue, that this time the civilians will prevail,” the PPP official said. The restored judges could revive challenges to Musharraf's reelection in October while still army chief, or go after the president for his Nov. 3 actions. The PPP wants to avoid an early confrontation with Musharraf, even though he weakened himself by stepping down as army chief. The PPP has enough problems, including stabilizing its government, averting possible economic crisis, and fighting Al-Qaeda-inspired militants whose suicide bombers have killed hundreds. “Who benefits from upheaval?” asked the PPP official. “There's a difference between a compromise and a sell-out.” Forcing Chaudhary into early retirement could go some way to defusing a potentially explosive situation. “The other option is not to remove him, but to reduce his personal power,” the PPP official said. That would entail removing the chief justice's right to allocate judges to cases, and choose which judges sit on benches. Musharraf won't be off the hook if Chaudhary is sidelined. The PPP aims to clip the president's powers by amending the constitution so he can no longer dismiss a government, while the PML-N wants to force Musharraf out eventually. Musharraf's enmity with Chaudhary goes back to March 9, 2007, when the judge bravely refused to resign after the president and his intelligence chiefs accused him of misusing his position. Chaudhary upset the establishment by taking up a series of cases delving into privatization deals, land development schemes, and human rights, including the disappearance of suspects under the cloak of intelligence agencies' counterterrorism operations. He has spent four months of the past year fighting suspension and another five under house arrest. He was freed on March 24, with the new government waiting in the wings. Yet PPP leaders regard Chaudhary as too inconsistent in past rulings, and too politicized by last year's events. The judge made no friends in the PPP last October, when he allowed challenges to an amnesty given to Bhutto and Zardari to let them return to Pakistan without fear of prosecution in old cases the couple said were politically motivated. Aitzaz Ahsan, president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, who led a lawyers' movement that has championed Chaudhary's cause, warned of more agitation if he now ends up dumped. “There will be no closure of the issue. There will be continued uncertainty and instability,” said Ahsan, a former PPP minister who is at odds with his own party's leadership. __
