By Faisal Shakeel

I couldn’t help talking to President Asif Ali Zardari’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar after spotting him in the courtroom the day the Supreme Court was to announce the short order on the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO).

I heard him complain about the bitter experience that Zardari’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had had with the judiciary, and later I asked him about the relationship of the PPP with the army. He did not comment.

The complaints and questions had started emerging after the Supreme Court made the officials concerned place on record documents pertaining to President Zardari’s Swiss cases.

At one point it seemed the proceedings were revolving not around the NRO but the Swiss cases as reluctant officials and eager judges locked themselves in a tug of war over the documents.

I was sure the NRO was discriminatory and would be struck down for being in conflict with the constitution, but I couldn’t figure out why the court had laid so much emphasis on gathering records of the Swiss cases.

The complainant’s counsel cleared the mist when he told me the court wants to build bases for the judgment against the ordinance. I wondered whether the cases of 8,041 NRO beneficiaries weren’t enough for the court to lay foundation for its verdict.

All guesses came to an end when the court restored cases against all the NRO beneficiaries, including President Zardari. The petitioner – the ex-Amir (chief) of Jamaat-i-Islami, Qazi Hussain Ahmad – was ecstatic over the order.

He said the army could once more intervene if the court order was not implemented in letter and spirit. Ahmad also asked “civil society” to remain alert for blocking a possible military intervention.

His statements should be read with extreme caution because his party had been part and parcel of the regimes of General Zia ul-Haq and General Pervez Musharraf.

Keeping in view the state of affairs, Ahmad’s statement reflects a loud and clear message about his own as well as the top military brass’ intentions for Zardari.