A prolonged sit-in right in front of the entrance of the Supreme Court building on the Constitution Avenue had all the ingredients to take the ongoing confrontation between the judiciary and parliament to new heights and, therefore, the decision to wind up the protest after a daylong activity is highly commendable. The coalition parties were successful in gathering a fairly large crowd and there were also possibilities of sabotage by hostile elements that are at work for conflicting interests.
According to political analysts, the ruling alliance achieved the objective for which it organized the protest rally in the Red Zone of the capital as, contrary to media reports, the three-member bench of the Supreme Court did not announce a hostile verdict and instead opted to adjourn proceedings of the case relating to elections in Punjab for one week, giving time to the two sides to review their strategies for the sake of long-term national interests. The leadership of the coalition parties also effectively put across their viewpoint as far as, what they perceived, jaundiced justice. The PDM has warned the top judge of the ‘dire consequences’ if Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was disqualified “on the pretext of contempt of the court” for avoiding to comply with the court ruling regarding Punjab elections on May 14, adding that they will not allow anyone to disgrace politicians and parliament. Maulana Fazlur Rehman has threatened that they will be back on a day’s notice in case of any ‘engineered verdict’ but one hopes there would be no need for such a recourse and issues would be sorted out through talks as emphasized by the CJP as well as the Core Commanders’ Conference. Meanwhile, airing of grievances against the person of the CJP notwithstanding, the PDM deserves appreciation for organizing a perfect orderly gathering and deploying its own guards at the entrance of the Supreme Court to ensure its safety and uphold its dignity.
