Daily Times

Last week was no surprise at all. The long-awaited verdict was exactly as expected. How so, you would say. All you need to do is pay attention to the chatter of the commoners and you will know the pulse. Even the verdict of former Prime Minister (PM) was, as expected. Except, the only oddity of the hyper technical reason for his dismissal.

Post Faizabad, there was a lot of anxiety in the air. The verdicts last week have given some measure of solace to the people. There is a certain segment that is still trying to concoct wild theories and letting their dreams and wishes gallop like untamed horses. All the age-old buzzwords of extra constitutional measures are rehashed and brought into the mind numbing wishful discussions.

Yours truly has no legal background and there are plenty of legal eagles who can give you the minute details, that Lordships have provided in their judgment. The common people including myself, do not have the proper background or understanding of complex legal concepts. However, there is another court, which has no legal standing of course and it is called the court of public opinion.  Interestingly, people form their perceptions based on news, analyses, rumours and chatter on social media. Amazingly, the decisions of the court of law are strikingly similar to the court of public perception.

Last Friday brought some reprieve for the ‘Chief Servant’, when the apex court decided to reject the plea of reopening the Hudaibiya case, as the said matter was time restricted. This made him the definitive front runner for his party in the upcoming elections. The looming threat of Qadri and the other clerics making a comeback for yet another dharna in early January is still valid and credible. One hopes that it will perhaps be dealt with care and diffused without any untoward incident.

The former PM is out of line when he says that he will be leading a movement which will bring reforms to the judicial process and so on and so forth. He goes a bit overboard in that department by taking credit for the restoration of the judiciary back in 2009. Someone ought to tell him that aggressive posturing will backfire relatively soon

From a layman’s perspective, if the Chief Minister remains embroiled in this case or if Model Town becomes any messier than what it already is, the fate of Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N) will be in serious jeopardy.

Moving on to Tareen, it was obvious that there was some omission on his part about certain foreign assets. So, it was a given that he was going to be nailed. His party’s spokesperson went on the offensive and called it a “balancing act” by the apex court.

In cricketing metaphors, as Khan clearly enjoys them, Khan almost had a leg before wicket and escaped his ouster. This too was expected as usual by most people on the street and on social media. Imagine if Khan was sent packing to the pavilion, the match of 2018 would look completely fixed and a significant number of his fans would be in major anguish.

I found one of the four questions raised by the plaintiff quite intriguing. Though the honourable Supreme Court, has directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to consider the alleged foreign funding of Khan’s party.

Yours truly overheard on the tube, that Lordships told the plaintiff that he had no locus standi in this matter. Pardon my extremely poor understanding, but the plaintiff, was apparently an aggrieved party, because the plaintiff had lost in the 2013 election against the respondent. I did post this query on his Twitter timeline but found no clear-cut answers, other than heart shaped likes.

So all in all, these verdicts, paved the way for the upcoming 2018 elections with two main contenders gearing up for a faceoff in Punjab, the battleground province. However, Nawaz is still spitting fire against the judiciary at any given place or moment.

Perhaps, it is by design so he comes off as the one in distress, stripped off his legitimate right to lead. The more he continues to tread on this path, more attention and sympathies he gains from prospective voters. Maryam is echoing the aggressive tone of her father. You get two for the price of one.

But the former PM is out of line when he says that he will be leading a movement which will bring reforms in the judicial process and so on and so forth. He goes a bit overboard in that department by taking credit for the restoration of the judiciary back in 2009. Someone ought to tell him that aggressive posturing will backfire relatively soon. He was ousted on a legal technicality and he needs handle this technically. He needs to realize that the Parliament is his source of rescue. Such matters are in its purview. Even if he is successful somehow, he should do it for the sake of future PM’s and not for himself.

The writer is a Pakistani-US mortgage banker. He can be reached at dasghar@aol.com and tweets @dasghar

Published in Daily Times, December 23^rd 2017.