Court Bars Pakistan's Nawaz Sharif from Office

Locked out: Pakistan's Nawaz Sharif can't find his way back to power. (John Moore/Getty Images)

Nawaz Sharif was twice prime minister of Pakistan (1990-1993 and 1997-1999) and remains one of the leading figures in Pakistani politics. He leads the Pakistan Muslim League, or PML, a generally right-wing, pro-business, anti-American Islamic Pakistani party erratically linked to Pakistan's military and clerical.

Sharif's political path had the misfortune of crossing that of Pervez Musharraf, whom he appointed army chief in 1998--only to attempt to arrest him the following year as Musharraf's power grew. Musharraf ousted Sharif instead and arrested him, claiming that Sharif illegally diverted his (Musharraf's) plane in Oct. 1999, endangering passengers and crew. Sharif spent almost a decade in exile in Saudi Arabia but was instrumental in getting Musharraf ousted in turn last year.

But his way back to power keeps crashing against nasty blocks. From today's Guardian: Pakistan's Supreme Court on Wednesday barred opposition leader Nawaz Sharif from elected office, raising the prospect of bitter political conflict in the country as its shaky government struggles against rising Islamist militancy. [...] His supporters accused Pakistani President Asif Ali] Zardari of influencing the Supreme Court to neutralise a powerful rival."

Why This Is More Than Internal Backbiting

To the United States and its fight against al-Qaeda, and as President Obama made clear in his speech to the nation yesterday, Pakistan will no longer be seen as distinct from Afghanistan in so far as American strategy is concerned. The two are part of the same problem. One can't be resolved without the other, and vice versa. So who leads Pakistan, if anyone, is of supreme concern to the Obama administration. Zardari doesn't have the administration's confidence. Nor should he: the man is South Asia's CCO--chief corruption officer. The problem is that Pakistan, for all its 172 million people, has difficulty mustering one or two good men, or women. Sharif, by default, is an on-again, off-again American courtier. The Guardian again:

In a sign of Sharif's influence and power, visiting United States officials frequently travel to his house in the Punjab to meet him, the most recent being Richard Holbrooke, the American envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan. The prospect of Sharif and his supporters leading a campaign against Zardari will concern Washington, which wants the country to put the political turmoil of Musharraf's final years behind it and concentrate squarely on the threat posed by al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

In short, the decision by Pakistan's Supreme Court is a seemingly procedural matter with far-reaching consequences.

See Also:

• Nawaz Sharif: Profile
• Asif Ali Zardari: Profile
• Pervez Musharraf: Profile
• Profile: Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan
• Pakistan Beyond Musharraf
• Pakistan Fumes: Predators Among Them
• Pakistan: Country Profile
• Today in Middle East History