Immunity?

WHY is it that in this purest of land we are filthy as sin, and in every nook and corner, the discussions these days hurl around whether the President and the Prime Minister enjoy complete immunity under the 1973 Constitution (yes, the same much maligned document we have made a bloody joke of!)


The Prime Minister is charged with 'contempt of court' for not following the orders of the Supreme Court in not writing to the Swiss Authorities for reopening the cases of graft and corruption against the President! who is also his party chairman (de-facto, and all in all of PPP) How do you follow the strict injunction of the court and still keep your cushy job and also suck up to your president? That is the worrisome position Mr. Jilani or Gillani (however you choose to pronounce it) is finding himself against these days. He has hired Mr.Aitazaz Ahsan as his lawyer to defend him and save his President from going to jail. Mr. Aitazaz is going to frame his defence on the plea that under the constitution of the country the President enjoys complete immunity within and without Pakistan till he holds that august office (2013.) The Prime Minister is expected to carry out the order of the Court and write to the Swiss Government but the court of this or any other country will not be able to proceed against the President till he is in that position.


The question of immunity is being debated upon on every TV channel at all times of day and night, the humdrum is rife about whether the justices will win and once and for all establish the penultimate supremacy of the law, or whether the President will be able to wiggle out of this mess at least till 2013. The whole country is waiting with bated breath and is wondering as to the fate of the main players. We can make an intelligent guess as to what will happen. In this country a person in power is always immune to the adversities of nature and safe from the repercussions of his own vile actions in the past, present and the future. We love to create a hullabaloo, and since the media is come up with such aplomb, and is forever ready to chant out in ceaseless cacophony on whatever the action of the day is...the drama goes on and on....


The erstwhile silent and sombre supreme court has now joined the fray - the eternal misdoings of the different institutions of the state - not to be left behind under the tutelage of His honour the Chief Justice of Pakistan, with his penchant for being in the news and in the lime light. If we mistakenly think that now the Supreme Court is asserting itself by flexing its muscles and showing the strength of the mighty law, we are grossly and seriously mistaken. The Supreme Court is only exerting and reasserting its nuisance value, its not involved in institution building (that's a joke) it is merely wanting its share of the power.
Under the constitution, and any lay reader of the constitution will be able to tell you that, the President's office is safe from prosecution, his position and place is paramount, otherwise he would be the butt of a number of allegations and it would make a mockery of his status. The whole game will be played out, for whose benefit it is hard to understand right now, but it will be so, the Prime Minister will be represented by his counsel on the next hearing, he will promise to be an obedient boy and write those dreaded letters and will go happily home!


We are a drama nation (literally) hooked on to the dreamy and unnatural world of passing from one crises to another, just like the cliff hangers of every week that are a hit with our people. We love to act big, we love big scenes, we are addicted to 'grave situations' we love to be living with our breaths on hold to see what will happen next, who will the powers that be topple (so we can shake our heads and say what goes around comes around) and be once more affirmed in our faith in good and bad. We have a lust to see people who are on the larger screen of life play out their roles, their misdeeds magnified thrill us, entice us, awe us... we are drowned in wondering what will happen if the great president is put to jail, if the Prime Minister is impeached and changed and so on and so forth.


My reading is that in a few weeks this will settle down, for we will then be contempalting errr no, panting over another crises of sorts!