The fallout continues

While the Pakistan Government claims that it was business as usual in the country's Supreme Court, and Information Minister Ali Durrani urged opposition political parties not to 'politicise' the issue, two non-State owned television stations have been taken off air for showing images of police clashing with lawyers protesting the removal of Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry by President Musharraf.

The United States and other key Western allies have remained silent. This is not an insignificant matter. Pakistan is heavily reliant on economic and political support from the West, particularly from the US.* The current lack of criticism of Musharaf by other Western states, notably Britain and Australia, also plays an important role because it legitimates his dictatorship and gives him a green light to continue his undemocratic practices.

It would be unsurprising if, in the event a regime unfriendly to Western interests came to power in Pakistan, there was a sudden well spring of concern and condemnation of Pakistan's poor human rights record and support for militant orthodox Muslims of which the Taliban is but one.

While current events were unfolding in Pakistan, the Australian Foreign Minister found time to condemn the Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe:

The brutal suppression of a rally in Zimbabwe over the weekend by the Mugabe Government, including killing an opposition activist, is further evidence of the regime’s utter disregard for basic democratic principles and the human rights of the people of Zimbabwe.**

The sad irony is that Australia can play a bigger role in fomenting democracy in Pakistan than Zimbabwe because Australia has stronger and much more cordial military, economic and political ties with Pakistan. A bureaucrat from the Department of Foreign Affairs might claim that Australia is doing 'all it can' behind the scenes to protest the removal of the Pakistani Chief Justice, but a public condemnation would give important moral and political support to Pakistan's legal community and would give the public at large in Pakistan and throughout the region a strong signal that the Australian Government is genuinely committed to democracy. Much the same could be said of the United States and British governments.

Meanwhile, the man caught in the malaise, Chief Justice Chaudhry has his day in court.

* According to the US State Department:

Sanctions put in place in 1990 denied Pakistan further military assistance due to the discovery of its program to develop nuclear weapons. Sanctions were tightened following Pakistan's nuclear tests in response to India's May 1998 tests and the military coup of 1999. Pakistan has remained a non-signatory of the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty. The events of September 11, 2001, and Pakistan's agreement to support the United States led to a waiving of the sanctions, and military assistance resumed to provide spare parts and equipment to enhance Pakistan's capacity to police its western border and address its legitimate security concerns. In 2003, President Bush announced that the United States would provide Pakistan with $3 billion in economic and military aid over 5 years. This assistance package commenced during FY 2005.

That economic support is expected to increase over the next few years.

** US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has made similar statements, as has British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett.