NRO: Serving Institutions or Individuals?

The Pakistani conundrum continued with the recent Supreme Court decision declaring the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) null and void. Under the ordinance, issued by former President Pervez Musharraf on October 5, 2007, cases of corruption against public office-holders could be withdrawn and no public office-holder could be arrested in future in corruption cases. Powers of the chairman National Accountability Bureau were also circumscribed. In more specific terms the federal and provincial governments were empowered to withdraw from the prosecution of any person, including an absconding accused who is found to be falsely involved for political reasons or through political victimization in any case initiated between January 1, 1986 to October 12, 1999. The ordinance was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Pakistan on December 16, 2009. Though the constitutional invalidity of the ordinance was obvious, its wider impact has created much confusion. Interpretations of benefits emanating from the NRO are distorted and depend on the political disposition of the observer. Few conspicuous dimensions have evaded attention.
First and foremost, the view that President Asif Ali Zardari benefitted most from the NRO is only partially correct. Zardari was not the primary architect of the NRO; no one, including Zardari himself, could have apprehended the political prize he grabbed as a consequence of NRO. The ordinance was most clearly part of a deal to give a new lease of life to the vacillating political careers of President Musharraf and Benazir Bhutto. Most of the current analysis gives an impression that NRO was the outcome of active campaign by Zardari for the sake of grabbing the Presidency. Zardari, no doubt, was expected to make considerable gains from the NRO, but that was to be an auxiliary rather than primary outcome of the NRO.

Secondly, the NRO simply allowed Zardari and other politicians to contest elections; it did not guarantee their political victories. All politicians evicted by the NRO were elected to state and federal government by the people. The Supreme Court can abrogate the NRO but can it supersede the will of the people?

Why did the people flood the streets of Karachi on October 18, 2006 when Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan as a direct consequence of the NRO? How would the courts and the people react to the NRO annulment if Benazir Bhutto was the President of Pakistan in place of Zardari? Is the NRO ruling about dealing with political corruption or personal vendetta?
This is how Benazir Bhutto reacted to the possible scrapping of the NRO:

Thirdly, NRO deal was facilitated by intense political bargaining and involved many crucial stakeholders beyond the screen. The mediating role of current Army Chief Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani and United States has been completely over-looked.
Annulment of the NRO has generated much skepticism across Pakistan. The institutional quagmire in Pakistan has further complicated after the NRO verdict. While separation of the civilian and military spheres of authority is still a challenge for Pakistan, the tensions among the civilian wings of government can prove to be apocalyptic. According to Bilal Qureshi the sole purpose of throwing out the NRO amnesty law was to settle scores with President Zardari and General Musharraf at the cost of Pakistan’s future. Asma Jahangir is of the opinion that after the legal verdict on NRO the norms of justice will be judged by the level of humiliation meted out to the wrongdoers, rather than strengthening institutions capable of protecting the rights of the people.
The problem in Pakistan is grave. Choices have to be made on the basis of institutions: Supreme Court or Presidency; or on the basis of personalities: Zardari or Benazir or Kiyani or Musharraf. Pakistan never presents the simple choice between political systems: democracy or absolutism or political anarchy. Since the choice is not between what is better or worse but between who is better or worse, political stability in Pakistan remains fragile.