Pakistan’s Supreme Court ordered the arrest of the Prime Minister yesterday on corruption allegations, ratcheting up pressure on a government that is facing street protests led by a cleric with a history of ties to the army.
The combination of the arrest order and the mass protest in the capital Islamabad led by Muslim cleric Muhammad Tahirul Qadri raised political fears that the military was working with the judiciary to force out a civilian leader.
“There is no doubt that Qadri’s march and the Supreme Court’s verdict were masterminded by the military establishment of Pakistan,” Fawad Chaudhry, an aide to Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, told Reuters.
“The military can intervene at this moment as the Supreme Court has opened a way for it.”
However, the ruling coalition led by the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) has a majority in Parlia-ment and lawmakers can simply elect another Prime Minister if Ashraf is ousted.
In June, Ashraf replaced Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, who was disqualified by the Supreme Court in a past showdown bet-ween Government and judiciary.
Elections are due in a few months and President Asif Ali Zardari hopes to lead the first civilian government to complete its full term in Pakistan’s 65 years as an independent nation.
But power struggles will distract the unpopular government from tackling an array of problems – a Taliban insurgency, economic stagnation and growing sectarian tensions triggered by bomb attacks and shootings.
The military, which sees itself as the guarantor of Pakistan’s stability, has long regarded the PPP-led Government as corrupt, incompetent and unable to prevent the country falling apart.
Pakistan’s powerful army has a history of coups and intervening in politics, but army chief General Ashfaq Kayani has vowed to keep the military out of politics.
But many believe top military leaders still try to exert behind-the-scenes influence and any moves by the military in this crisis can not happen without approval from Kayani, arguably Pakistan’s most powerful man.