Pakistan's first parliamentary session was dominated by neither its new prime minister nor his assassinated leader but by an imprisoned judge, writes Graham Usher in Islamabad There was a moment during the inaugural session of Pakistan's National Assembly on 24 March that epitomised how much Pakistan has changed in the last year. Former speaker and former political prisoner Youssef Raza Gillani had just been elected prime minister by a colossal 264 votes to 42 in a 334-member house. He was presiding over the largest coalition in Pakistani history, a rainbow alliance blending such hues as his own "social democratic" Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and the conservative Muslim League of ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif (PML-N). With a bow of his head, he acknowledged he had this position only because his late leader, Benazir Bhutto, had been assassinated -- a gesture made especially poignant by the presence of her son, Bilawal, in the gallery less than 10 metres from where he spoke. Finally, he went through the enormous challenges facing Pakistan and his government -- a raging Islamic insurgency, an economy in meltdown and an unresolved power struggle between the parliament and Pakistan president, Pervez Musharraf. Yet neither history nor emotion or challenge could explain the impact of his first pledge as prime minister. "I order the immediate release of the detained judges of the higher judiciary," he said, including the removal of guards manning the home of Pakistan Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohamed Chaudhry. A low whistle went around the assembly's packed public galleries. Then thunderous applause. Then a standing, stomping ovation. Finally, the vast mass of the 334 members began thumping their desks in a deafening, cacophonous din. In the earlier parts of Gillani's speech there had been the odd cry of "Long Live Bhutto!" But now there was only one overpowering chant: "Go Musharraf go!" Nor did the reaction end there. As news spread that the judges had been freed, dozens, then hundreds, of lawyers, civil society activists and local people climbed the unlit roads to Chaudhry's barricaded residence, nestling in Islamabad's dark Himalayan foothills. They tore up the barbed wire and pulled down the crash barriers. They gathered in his floodlit garden, chanting his name, pounding on drums. The police lounged in the grass, pleased to be free of a detail most had loathed. Finally, the chief justice, his two daughters and six-year-old son appeared on the balcony surrounded by a melee of recently detained lawyers and judges. "I have no words to express my gratitude to the way you have struggled for the restoration of the constitution and rule of law," he said, in a voice choked with emotion. His son was ecstatic. "Thank you," he screamed from the balcony. He is disabled. For 10 weeks he too has not been allowed to leave his home. President Musharraf once called Chaudhry, "the scum of the earth". It's easy to see why. One year ago he sacked him, ostensibly for "misconduct", actually because Chaudhry had opined an army chief should not be president of Pakistan. After four months of mass protests led by lawyers Chaudhry was reinstated and Musharraf humbled. It was the first defeat his regime had suffered in eight years of military rule. In November Musharraf imposed emergency law because the Supreme Court was about to rule invalid his presidential "election" the month before. He purged Chaudhry and 62 other judges and replaced them with stooges. He rounded up 5,000 lawyers. He hoped that would be the end of Pakistan's truculent justices. But the elections were fought under the pall of their incarceration as much as under Bhutto's murder. Parties like the PML-N pledged the judges' cause and won massively. And once the elections were over -- and coalitions were formed -- reinstatement of the judges "within 30 days of the government being formed" became the lynchpin of Pakistan's four-party coalition. Gillani's order from the House was to fulfil one part of the electoral pact. Full restoration -- so the lawyers hope -- will be the second. The fight is not over yet. Musharraf may be down but he is hardly out: he has supporters still in the army and Washington. And many lawyers know that there are some in the PPP who seek the judges' reinstatement with the same relish as the president. These include Asif Ali Zardari, PPP co-chairperson and Benazir's widower. He is fearful the chief justice may strike down as illegal an amnesty on corruption cases his late wife negotiated with Musharraf. He also holds grudges against other deposed judges who hounded him through the courts. There is talk of a deal where Musharraf's agrees to shed some of his powers in return for the reinstatement of some judges, excluding Chaudhry. It's a non-starter, says writer and recently elected PML-N Assembly member, Ayaz Amir. "The new government is going to have to resolve the issue of the judges and do so clearly," he says. "There can be no piecemeal solutions. You saw what happened: no sooner had Gillani ordered that the guards be removed than the people poured onto the streets. You cannot stop that momentum with fudge. The question of the judges' restoration is going to hang like a curse on the government. Unless and until it is settled Pakistan will have neither stability nor be able to tackle any of the other issues that face our country".
