WHILE in Pakistan, I talked on phone to Nawaz Sharif, chief of Muslim League (N), at Islamabad a day before he extended his support to Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). His demands for a coalition were two: one, reinstatement of the 60 sacked judges and, two, the re-enunciation of military role in Pakistan to bring the force at par with India’s. He assured me that he would make no compromise on what he defined as the “basic.” I found Nawaz Sharif sounding quite confident.

Nawaz Sharif’s joint press conference with Asif Ali Zardari, co-chairman of the PPP, was categorical on the restoration of judges. They will be reinstated within a month of the National Assembly’s first session. Probably, an executive order can give back the sacked judges their job. However, there was no mention of military’s role at the conference.

I do not find any difficulty in the judges getting back their job. But there may be a problem about the reinstatement of Chief Justice Mohammad Iftikhar Chaudhary because a new Chief Justice is already in the chair. He may step down voluntarily to accommodate Chaudhary. Otherwise, it would be a tough question to sort out. Still, the bigger complication is the reconciliation between Chaudhary and President Pervez Musharraf who is to administer the oath of office to the Chief Justice. Chaudhary and his family have been treated as criminals, confined to their home for nearly six months. On the other hand, Musharraf has not stopped running down Chaudhary. How can there be a meeting point?

With Musharraf’s resolve to humiliate Chaudhary, things do not look working between the state’s head and the judiciary’s chief. Musharaf is having revenge from the judiciary and the bar which has brought about the emergence of political parties. But he should realise that if the restoration of democracy was his ultimate goal, the lawyers’ agitation has brought it nearer.

Nawaz Sharif’s second point on the military is not even under discussion. True, Zardari’s stand is different. He can live with the military as he can with Musharraf. My feeling is that the martyred Benazir Bhutto would not have agreed to this position. Since Zardari heads the party at present, his word would count. Nawaz Sharif’s views are different but, maybe, Zardari has assured him that the military role will be attended to in the National Assembly. He should realise that downgrading of the military is so important for democracy that the change should be seen and felt by the people. The National Assembly is a good forum, but the military would not like the dirty linen to be washed in public.

It is difficult to visualise a Pakistani army chief giving up the authority and power he has wielded for more than four decades. It also means losing 70 per cent control over commerce, business and industry, a vast empire that the military has built. What happens to defence colonies, built on the land given free of cost to the top brass? The whole of Pakistan and its thinking would have to undergo a complete change if the military is to be reduced only to the role of defending the country as is the case in India.

No doubt, Pakistan’s army chief Pervaz Kayani has withdrawn many officers from top civil positions. He has also promised to keep his force away from politics. But he has also said that he has not distanced himself from President Musharraf. The day he distances himself from him will be the day when the process of transferring power to the political set up begins.

This tangles the situation because Musharraf is going to face the charge of ousting the elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif through a coup. The presidential spokesman, Major Rashid Qureshi, has said that Musharraf intends continuing “serving” the nation. How can he legalise his rule which was palpably illegal? The use of word, serving, is irritating because if ever history records the role of Musharraf, it will be in unpardonable terms. Nawaz Sharif has made no secret of his endeavour to put Musharraf on trial. This may not be to the liking of Zardari. The fragile coalition may come under more pressure and one does not know the outcome if there is no amicable settlement. At least, General Kayani should distance himself from Musharraf because if he doesn’t it may create a piquant situation, not to the benefit of either the military or civil

I can see a legal and political battle building up. When Musharraf got elected as President by the last assemblies, he was still in uniform. A candidate for the office of President cannot be in uniform, says the constitution. The matter is still pending before the Supreme Court which may be presided over by Chaudhary. He had given a landmark judgment against emergency rule before he was sacked and house arrested. What will be his verdict on Musharraf’s election is not known, but it is bound to create an uneasy situation.

It is also difficult to predict how the army would react to parliament’s move to reinstate the sacked judges, including Chaudhary, and how General Kayani would respond to the move Parliament will initiate to undo the constitutional decisions Musharraf took. Parliament will need to restore its prestige. So will be the judiciary. Both will tell upon the position which Musharraf and the military enjoy at present.

In a democratic structure, there cannot be two parallel lines of control. People’s representatives have to be at the helm of affairs, answerable to those who elect them. So long as the military has a say in formulating policies, domestic or foreign, Pakistan may not be considered a democracy. True, there is a National Security Council which has the executive and the three wings of military as its members. But the power the council has enjoyed so far is far more than allowed in a democratic set-up. Parliament has to be supreme, not the National Security Council.

Both Nawaz Sharif and Zardari have got an opportunity to take the country on the road to people’s raj. That the two have been able to persuade Fazul-ur Rahman, once the head of the religious parties, and a dynamic democratic Afsghar Khan, leader from the NWFP, augurs well for Pakistan. Together they can put the country back on the rails. They have a lot to do and that requires unity of purpose and action. Yet, if any of them tries to monopolise power to the exclusion of others—the bane of Pakistan—the country may go back to square one. Then even its ardent supporters may lose heart. The coalition of different parties is on trial at the moment. They must not fail Pakistan.