With just six months to go until election D-Day, Pakistanis might be forgiven for thinking they have gone back to the future of a decade ago. Back then, the political scene was dominated by the lawyers’ movement and its confrontation with then President-General Pervez Musharraf. Today, all the King’s men of the ruling party seem to be saying that the integrity of the country’s judiciary will remain severely compromised unless and until the apex court brings back the former Army chief to face due process. And though these protestations come from a self-serving PMLN that is still reeling from the Supreme Court’s public stoning and dethroning of Nawaz Sharif from the premiership — the truth of this cannot be denied. After all, Musharraf is a declared absconder in the Benazir Bhutto murder case. He is also wanted for high treason. Yet there he was over the weekend dropping yet another extended remix of the disco club classic, “I shall return”. Not to face the music, you understand, but to lead the country to its former glory; all under the banner of a united Muslim League. He would, he said, come back and personally spearhead the APML election campaign. This suggests that has not the slightest apprehension about being picked up by the authorities for any wrongdoing. Which is why we wholeheartedly support the Islamabad High Court (IHC)’s directive that will see NAB, well, nab Musharraf for alleged corruption during his time as President. This is an important development. Particularly, as the IHC has moved to resolve a 19-year-old point of ambiguity in the National Accountability Ordinance (1999) that gave cover to NAB’s hitherto reluctance to initiate proceedings against former military men; above all retired generals. That it took the SC verdict in the Panama Papers case as the necessary precedent sends a fitting rebuttal to those who claim the judiciary is in the pocket of the security establishment. But it needs to go further. For as the Interior minister has noted, if the apex court is unable to summon the former Army chief — the serving of contempt notices to ordinary political workers is not going to reinforce its authority anytime soon. Moreover, failure on this front also lends credence to the claim that Musharraf is the biggest fish in the ‘reformed asset’ pond. Yet above and beyond all this, the judiciary needs to take notice of how Pakistan’s former strong men, both uniformed and otherwise, who presently face corruption charges and worse are still able to lead political parties into the democratic process. We recommend that the higher courts stop fretting so much about St Valentine’s Day and direct PEMRA to perhaps enforce a blanket ban on the broadcasting of such rallies led by these men with unclean chits; whether in person or from comfortable self-exile. Then comes the matter of the SC ensuring that Musharraf face due process in terms of all pending charges against him. And once it has done all that — it must turn its attention to all those who accorded him ‘honourable exit’. For everyone who is now is (rightly) decrying what they see as the apex court’s selective accountability must also play their part. It is, after all, in the national interest. For this is the beauty of vengeful democracy. * Published in Daily Times, February 13th 2018.