Publication

The institutional clash between Pakistan’s judiciary and civilian government, which paralyzed Islamabad, seems to have abated towards the second half of 2012. On July 25, rather than take legal action against the Prime Minister for defying court orders, the Supreme Court gave the government until August 8, 2012 to come up with a compromise solution to the civil-judicial showdown. The author explains that, historically, Pakistan’s judiciary has supported military regimes against civilian governments, but that in this case, the court is acting independently. Unfortunately, these high-level power plays are unfolding at the expense of the Pakistani people.