Najam on VOA and AlJazeera on Pakistan Prime Minister’s Removal
In a stunning decision on July 28, 2017, the Supreme Court of Pakistan determined that the Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, is disqualified to serve as a member of the parliament, leading to the Prime Minister’s resignation. Dean Adil Najam of the Boston University Pardee School of Global Studies was interviewed by several news outlets on the political implications of this decision, especially on the fragile democracy in Pakistan.
Speaking to AlJazeera English, Najam pointed out that in 70 years of the country’s existence no Prime Minister ever has been able to complete his or her tenure in office. He pointed out that for Nawaz Sharif this was, in fact, the third time he has been ousted as Prime Minister – the first time in 1993 he was removed by the President, in 1999 he was removed by the military, and now in 2017 he has been removed by the Supreme Court.
Najam explained that the decision was based on a rather ambiguous clause in the constitution that requires all members of parliament to be “sadiq” and “amin” (meaning truthful and reliable). The case that emerged from the infamous Panama Papers scandal, eventually came down to the court finding that the Prime Minister has not been entirely honest in explaining his business dealings, that there is insufficient distance between his political and business interests, and that his family – especially his daughter, who is also his heir apparent, his son-in-law, and his son – has been unable to fully create a wall between their own business dealings and the Prime Minister’s politics. Najam pointed out the striking similarities between this situation and the recent political buzz in the US, except in the Pakistan case the Supreme Court intervened to remove the Prime Minister.
Earlier, Najam was interviewed on the VOA Urdu television show View 360 on the same subject. In his comments, he pointed out that “Pakistan is no more political confused or unstable today than it was yesterday (before this decision). But the nature of the confusion has changed. And the confusion will persist.”
He also stressed that while the decision is clearly historic, it is not clear exactly how history will remember it or exactly how it will eventually impact Pakistan’s democracy. “Neither Pakistan nor democracy is so simple that one case will forever decide its fate,” Najam said.
See video of full program here. (in Urdu).
Adil Najam is the Inaugural Dean of the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies and was a former Vice Chancellor of the Lahore University of Management Sciences in Pakistan.