ISLAMABAD, 31 May 2007 — A former senior judge claimed yesterday that President Gen. Pervez Musharraf had no authority to suspend the chief justice, arguing that the 2002 referendum that kept Musharraf in power was unconstitutional.
Fakhruddin G. Ibrahim said Pakistan is at a “defining moment” in its history as it faces political turmoil over the March 9 suspension of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry on allegations he abused his office.
“People are worried,” Ibrahim, speaking on behalf of the bar association of Balochistan province, told a 13-judge Supreme Court panel hearing a slew of petitions challenging Chaudhry’s ouster.
“We have made many mistakes. But the time has come to rectify them. The ship of the state is sinking,” he said.
The 2002 referendum gave Musharraf, who seized control in a 1999 coup, five more years in power. Ibrahim said the Constitution has no provision for such a referendum, leaving Musharraf’s continued rule with no legitimacy.
He said that after the coup Musharraf sought legitimacy from the Supreme Court and he was given three years to hold general elections and hand over power to the elected representatives. But instead of adhering to the court verdict, Musharraf held a referendum.
“People were being made fools of,” Ibrahim said of the referendum, adding that the vote’s lack of legal authority leaves Musharraf “not competent.” Ibrahim called for an end to military rule, saying Musharraf had received a stamp of approval from a subservient Parliament.
“If you don’t say farewell to arms, farewell to the constitution,” Ibrahim said.
Hamid Khan, a lawyer for the Pakistan Bar Council, told the bench that Musharraf removed the judge in a “slipshod and perfunctory manner.” One of Chaudhry’s attorneys, Aitzaz Ahsan, alleged Tuesday that Musharraf wants to “humble, humiliate and subjugate” the chief justice and remove him from office.
