Justice Chaudhry was reinstated but fired again, along with 60 other judges, in another contest with the general. Protests by the opposition and an ultimatum from Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, then head of the Army, forced him to reinstate Justice Chaudhry and other justices. Pakistan’s politicians are not paragons of probity, but corruption is not the main reason for Mr. Sharif’s predicament. Even though Mr. Sharif’s party will nominate another leader as interim prime minister to serve out the full five-year term, Mr. Sharif’s ouster will mar the country’s democratic transition. The court has set a dangerous judicial precedent that can easily be used to unseat elected leaders in the future.

Source: New York Times July 28, 2017 17:15 UTC