Shahbaz is accused of corruption and Khan is accused of "sedition".. Will Pakistan's judiciary reshape the political scene?

ISLAMABAD - Once

again, the Pakistani judiciary has returned to the fore in the conflicts of political parties in the country, after filing cases against Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and his son Hamza, the Prime Minister of Punjab province, in exchange for efforts to try the former prime minister and opposition leader Imran Khan.

The Pakistani judiciary is looking into a case of corruption and money laundering worth $ 16 billion, and the FBI said before a special court that it wanted to arrest the Prime Minister and his son in connection with this case.

The second case is against Sharif, his son, and Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on charges of torturing and beating PTI members and supporters during rallies led by the party's leader and former Prime Minister Imran Khan on May 25.

And the Express Tribune reported last Saturday that a local court in Lahore had ordered the police to file a report against Sharif, his son, Rana Sanaullah, the police directors and her deputy commissioner, and against 600 police officers, for torturing PTI supporters during the party's march.

On the other hand, the government is seeking to convict Imran Khan on charges of sedition, destabilizing the country, and attempting to attack the Federal Cabinet during the long march he led.

A special government committee - in which the Minister of Interior and other ministers and advisers participated - discussed filing a sedition lawsuit against Imran Khan and the chief ministers of Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under the Criminal Procedure Law.

Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, his son and his interior minister are facing several cases related to corruption, money laundering, and others related to beating and torturing demonstrators (French)

A history of adjudication in political crises

In retrospect, in June 2012, the Supreme Court of Pakistan disqualified then-Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani for contempt of court for refusing to reopen corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.

His membership of Parliament was also revoked and he was banned from holding any position in the Pakistan People's Party for a period of 5 years.

But Gilani's powers were few with a strong president like Zardari, and his removal did not result in a collapse of the government or political instability in the country, because the PPP had a parliamentary majority that enabled it to remain in power until the end of that term.

In July 2017, the Supreme Court also removed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from public office, in a decision that some saw as historic, after the publication of the “Panama Papers” implicating him in corruption cases.

It was unanimously ruled that Sharif was unfit for the position, provided that an investigation would be opened against him and against members of his family and others.

After his removal, he was replaced by Shahid Khaqan Abbasi of the same party (Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Sharif), who was the Minister of Petroleum.

Ironically, the corruption case against Nawaz Sharif was brought by Imran Khan - the head of the PTI and then representing the opposition - in the Supreme Court a year before Sharif was removed from office.

This allowed him to compete strongly in the 2018 elections, which ended with his victory and the formation of a government from his party.

Recently, the Supreme Court ruled on the political crisis in the country.

After the deputy speaker of parliament, Qassem Khan Suri, recognized the unconstitutionality of the vote of no-confidence, the case was referred to the judiciary, which ruled that the deputy speaker's decision was unconstitutional and that the vote of no-confidence should take place within a certain timetable.

This is what actually happened and ended with the overthrow of Khan's government, and the opposition taking over until the end of the legal period in the summer of next year.

In addition, the Pakistani judiciary issued several decisions that brought about changes to the provincial councils, most notably the conflict in the Punjab Parliament in conjunction with the political crisis in the country last April.

independence of the judiciary

Although the Supreme Court has sometimes been linked to the military, some of its rulings were contrary to the military establishment;

In July 2001, the Supreme Court ruled that some provisions of General Pervez Musharraf's anti-corruption decree were illegal.

In 2007, the court decided to reinstate Judge Iftikhar Chaudhry, whom Musharraf had removed from the presidency of the Supreme Court in March of the same year.

On the other hand, some associate the independence of the judiciary in Pakistan with the country's political history.

In this, journalist and political analyst, Qas Ali Chaudhry, says that "the judiciary plays a positive role in the current political scenario, especially that the chief justice of Islamabad High Court calculates his decisions accurately, and it seems that he did not respond to any pressure from any side."

This is confirmed by the expert in legal affairs, Asad Rahim Khan, who said that the courts since 2009 have sought to break with the past;

They have removed prime ministers, convicted a military dictator for treason, and reinstated parliament after it was illegally dissolved last April.

Deposed Prime Minister Imran Khan faces attempts to prosecute him on charges of sedition during the rallies last May (Reuters)

The last word of the chapter

Political analysts and legal experts underestimate the issues that the head of power faces, and those that the head of the opposition is expected to face as well.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said, on Sunday, that Imran Khan will be arrested as soon as the preventive bail granted to him by the Peshawar High Court on June 2 and for 3 weeks in cases related to the long march on May 25 expires.

As for the cases against Imran Khan, analyst Waqas Chaudhry says that their main motive is to dismantle his anti-government campaign, as pressure is the only thing behind the sedition and anti-terror cases.

In addition, the government's allegations are not strong and if it goes to the courts it will not cause much trouble to Imran Khan and his companions.

Asad Rahim Khan believes that accusations of sedition are not used in Pakistan to preserve the integrity of the state as much as they are tools of political coercion.

He adds - to Al Jazeera Net - that the attempt to charge Khan with committing such a crime is completely unfounded in law.

On the other hand, Chaudhry says, “If we talk about corruption cases against Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, I think there will be no result, especially when he is in power. his son or the Minister of the Interior.

When asked about the possibility of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif facing the fate of his brother Nawaz, Chaudhry said that it is too early to confirm this, as Shahbaz Sharif's policy is one of "concessions", and in light of his response to the military establishment, there are no serious problems for him.

As for legal expert Asad Rahim Khan, he says that “the two main political dynasties” in Pakistan are facing a series of corruption cases, including fake accounts and money laundering, with years of investigation and evidence behind them, and adds that “this reinforces the impression that such cases are nothing more than a piece of paper.” Pressure on the political class, to be expelled or removed as the case may be.