Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Posted

"Ya know, none of this would be happening if I hadn't inherited this mess from Sleepy Joe Biden, the WORST president in HISTORY.  These two nations have been warring since the time of St Paul, who as you all know wrote my favorite Bible chapter, Corinthians 2: Judaic Boogaloo.  So, after centuries of INEFFECTIVE leadership from Pelosi and Schumer and that brown guy with the tan suit, what was his name, nevermind, doesn't matter.  You know, a lot of people are saying this is the GREATEST wartime mediation in history.  I dunno, but that's what they're saying.  What?  They're shooting again?  Well, the world will remember that for about half an hour, I, Supreme Commander Donald J Trump, Esquire provided peace and stability to the Middle East.  Drink Diet Coke -- it's got what plants crave.  I love lamp.  Thank you, and goodnight, Moscow."

Posted

Times like this emphasize how effective not-in-power Republicans are at tying ANY negative international development to the Democrats, and how the Democrats make no effort to return the favor.

  • Hook 'Em 2
  • Rage+1 2
  • 6 months later...
Posted (edited)

Pakistan's army chief, Asim Munir, has essentially just given himself dictator-for-life powers.

[New York Times] Pakistan’s Army Chief Gets Expanded Powers and Lifelong Immunity

Quote

Pakistan’s powerful army chief was on track to secure vastly expanded powers, including "lifelong legal immunity" on Wednesday as lawmakers moved closer to approving a constitutional amendment that gives him sweeping authority over all military branches and limits the independence of the country's Supreme Court. Syed Asim Munir, the army chief whom President Trump called his “favorite field marshal,” is set to become Pakistan’s chief of defense forces by the end of the month, a new title positioning him over the navy and air force as well.

Under the new constitutional amendment, the field marshal and Pakistan’s president, the country’s symbolic head of state who also holds important powers over appointments and interim governments, would also be granted lifelong immunity from any legal prosecution. As of Wednesday evening, an overwhelming majority of lawmakers from the two chambers of the Pakistani Parliament had voted in favor of the amendment granting Field Marshal Munir control over all branches of the military and lifelong legal immunity. President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan is expected to sign the bill for it to become part of the revised Constitution.

The 27th amendment to the Pakistani Constitution would further tilt the balance toward the military. Besides the expanded powers enjoyed by Field Marshal Munir, a newly created court, whose judges will be appointed by the executive, would become the country’s most powerful. It would operate above the current Supreme Court, which has previously acted as a check on army chiefs and governmental leaders but will now be reduced to handling civilian and criminal cases. Under the amendment, high court judges would be forced to resign if they reject a transfer from one province to another decided by Pakistan’s political leadership.

 

Edited by satyanash
  • Fuck Around and Find Out 1
Posted

Lot of that going around, it seems. 

 

Springtime for autocrats and infamy

Winter for voters and sense.

We're marching at a disaster pace.

Dear leader can go and fuck his face.

 

  • Hook 'Em 5
  • Like 1
Posted

The measure has officially passed the Senate (64-0 vote) and the National Assembly (234-4) as Pakistan's 27th Amendment to the Constitution. This is pretty much a definitive end to democracy in Pakistan.

Excellent opinion piece from Zahid Hussain, a longtime journalist for the Wall Street Journal and Associated Press.

Zahid Hussain: Killing the Constitution

Quote

Pakistan has witnessed military dictators abrogating or suspending the Constitution several times in the past. In fact, General Zia-ul Haq was famously quoted as saying that the Constitution was nothing more than 'a piece of paper which [he] could tear up at any time'. The late dictator’s remarks were a reflection of the arrogance that comes with power, and of a dismissive attitude towards a Constitution that had been adopted unanimously by an elected parliament in 1973. The Constitution was restored with some amendments after the death of Zia ul-Haq in an air crash in 1988.

General Pervez Musharraf suspended the Constitution not once but twice — in 1999, and then again in 2007, though his move did not get legal cover the second time. He survived in power for some months after his second action. The Constitution was subsequently restored. But even those military rulers did not mutilate the Constitution the way it has been done now by a parliament which has a questionable public mandate.

While the 26th Amendment had shaken the very foundation of the trichotomy of power, the 27th has virtually murdered the Constitution. The last rites were being performed in haste under the watch of ‘Big Brother’. It is perhaps, the darkest moment in our unenviable constitutional history.

It has been more of a puppet show — one after another, lawmakers rose to defend amendments they had not read and were not consulted on. Other members just shouted ‘aye’ when the vote was called, often without even reading the draft of the law provided to them at the session. They just had to follow the party line.

Some of them are familiar faces who had also voted for changes to the Constitution in Zia and Musharraf’s past military governments. The required number of votes for the passage of the amendment in the Senate was duly produced by engineering a few defections from the opposition benches. One does not need to be reminded of how it happened. An opposition mutilated and battered by the disqualification of several of its lawmakers (convicted in dubious show trials by 'anti-terrorism' courts) did not have much choice but to boycott the vote in parliament. The sham went on with no opposition in the House.

It has not been just the complete demolition of whatever independence of judiciary was left after the 26th Amendment, but also the surrender of even the semblance of civilian rule. The new amendment will provide constitutional cover to the country’s march towards becoming a praetorian state. The army chief has been granted unprecedented powers. Elevated to the rank of field marshal for his leadership in the four-day conflict with India in May this year, he will now have complete immunity from the law for his actions, with his term in office extended to five years and the guarantee of another extension in service.

This lifetime immunity has not only been granted to five-star armed forces officers but also to the president. It is unprecedented in a democratic country not to hold leaders and state officials to account for their actions. This is not only a negation of democratic norms but also of the rule of law. In most democratic countries, such immunity is not granted to elected leaders even when in office. But after the 27th amendment, they will have complete immunity from illegal actions.

It was quite amusing to watch the debate on the amendment in the National Assembly when ministers and other members of the treasury benches made it a point to start their speeches by profusely praising Zulfikar Ali Bhutto for giving the country the 1973 Constitution and then, in the same breath, claimed that the amendment would further strengthen democracy in the country.

One can only marvel at the hypocrisy of these politicians for talking about democracy and the rule of law after killing the very spirit of the Constitution. But should one expect anything else from those who appear as mere puppets? After all, their very presence in the House is owed to certain quarters. A day before the amendment was tabled in the Senate I asked a very senior PML-N leader who had held many important ministerial positions in the past about the proposal. He actually had no idea about its provisions.

He was certainly not the exception. Even some federal ministers privately admitted they had not been kept in the loop. It is not surprising given the secrecy surrounding the substance of the amendment. And the way it is being rushed through parliament leaves nothing to the imagination. That is the state of our so-called democracy under a dispensation installed through manipulated elections.

It is perhaps the role of the PPP, which while a part of the coalition has opted to stay out of government, that has been the most appalling in the entire episode. The party and its leaders were also instrumental in the demolition of the Constitution that the PPP takes credit for instituting. It sounded so surreal when PPP lawmakers eloquently described the sacrifices given by the party leadership for democracy to uphold the sanctity of the Constitution.

There is indeed no denial about the PPP’s struggle for democracy in the past. But the current leadership has betrayed that legacy. Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has justified the changes in the Constitution particularly the establishment of a separate constitutional court saying it was a part of the Charter of Democracy signed by the PPP and PML-N in 2006. But his argument about the court is completely out of context. Moreover, there is much more in the charter related to the establishment of civilian supremacy and the Constitution. The 27th amendment totally negates the charter and will lead to authoritarianism. History will judge the current leadership in a completely different way from the past leadership.

A big question is whether the Supreme Court will now act to protect the Constitution and whatever little autonomy the judiciary has been left with after it accepted the 26th Amendment. Sadly, the amendment has also weakened the unity of the federation.

 

  • Rage+1 2
Posted
Quote

Pakistan has witnessed military dictators abrogating or suspending the Constitution several times in the past. In fact, General Zia-ul Haq was famously quoted as saying that the Constitution was nothing more than 'a piece of paper which [he] could tear up at any time'. 

Army Chief Doan-geev Fuq has now completely shredded it.



×
×
  • Create New...