I wish to draw malaysiakini readers' attention to the events unfolding in Pakistan over the last few weeks over the sacking of its chief justice for standing up to President Pervez Musharraf who is trying to extend his term of rule without seeking parliament's permission.
Instead of grumbling in coffee-shops or on blogs (as we Malaysians tend to do), the Pakistani populace (surprisingly led by lawyers, retired senior generals and other professionals) took to the streets in open protest against the sacking of the chief justice. The Pakistani courts and the legal system has all but shut down.
When the Pakistani police used violence to disperse the crowds, some lawyers stood their ground and fought back - pictures were posted in the international papers. For me this was an amazing epiphany when contrasted to the lack of political mobilisation during the illegal sacking of our former Lord President Salleh Abbas.
While some members of the legal fraternity, including the Bar Council, did raise objections through the usual channels (ie, petitions, passing resolutions, etc), they were eventually drowned out by the overwhelming instruments of the government including a gagged press, the ISA and the on-going Operation Lallang at that time.
The events in Pakistan have highlighted the often forgotten ‘citizens' measure of last resort’ when a democratically-elected government turns tyrannical and refuses to listen to its citizens. We saw similar events in Philippines with ‘people power’ overcoming the Marcos, the late dictator. We saw it in South Africa when the apartheid government was forced to step down due to the sheer size of protests both domestically and internationally.
We saw it in Thailand in the early 1990s when the army used to rule the roost (unfortunately, the army has returned to power recently for different reasons and it remains to be seen if the army is really acting in the people's interest as it claims).
The point I am trying to make is that governments all over the world, democratic or otherwise, rule by the consent of its citizens eventually. When the citizens have withdrawn their consent to be ruled, are oppressed and have exhausted all other avenues of protest, they can invoke the ‘citizens’ measure of last resort’ and remove a tyrannical government by force if necessary.
That right is even expressed by the founding fathers of the US, no doubt due to their opposition to British rule at that time.
While the outcome in Pakistan still hangs in the balance, it is a timely reminder to all governments who are tempted to stray on to the path of dictatorship and tyranny. |
NEWS
