Given the uncertainty that of late had begun surrounding the prospect of a PPP-PML(N)-ANP coalition government at the Centre the agreement signed by Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif in Murree on Sunday has been rightly described as a historic document.
That they agreed to meet on March 9, exactly a year after President Musharraf filed the reference against the then Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, should have rung some bells somewhere but the presidential camp appeared to be unconcerned with their chief doling out free advice to the future government to shun 'politicking'.
The two essentially agreed on three things: One, they will join together to form coalition governments at the Centre and in Punjab; two, Within 30 days of assuming office, their government will secure a National Assembly resolution seeking reinstatement of sacked judges; and three, they would implement the Charter of Democracy which inter-alia strips the President of his power under Article 58(2)b to dissolve parliament and dismiss the government.
As they say politics is an art of the possible, the two leaders exhibited political maturity by injecting pragmatism into their deal, with Nawaz Sharif accepting to be part of the government and taking oath from Musharraf and Asif Ali Zardari buying the PML (N) line on deposed judiciary.
With this accord under their belts, the main winners of the February 18 elections should now go to the parliament and launch the new government, and as for President Musharraf he should decide whether he would be willing to work under the conditions substantially controlled by his nemesis, Nawaz Sharif. Both the things must happen soon now that the election results have been notified and a broad outline of the future set-up is clearly visible.
The uncertainty about the possibility of hammering out coalition governments at the Centre and in Punjab mainly sprang from divergent positions the two sides had held on the issue of deposed judges. While the PPP, despite the fact that the main crusader for the judges' reinstatement is PPP's Aitzaz Ahsan, only vaguely voiced support for 'independence of judiciary,' the Nawaz Sharif-led PML (N) was categorical that it would join the coalition only if it made a clear commitment to restore the deposed judges.
The agreement now arrived at commits them to restore deposed judges through a "parliamentary resolution" to be passed by the National Assembly within 30 days of the formation of the new government. This indeed is a major breakthrough, for the PPP was believed to be indifferent to the idea of restoration of deposed judges for the latter's opposition to the National Reconciliation Ordinance as well as the perceived fears among the party's Western allies that a restored Chief Justice Chaudhry might insist on return of the "missing persons" some of whom might have been sold out, as hinted in Musharraf's original In the Line of Fire, to the United States.
The draft resolution for the parliament on judges' restoration, said to have been approved by senior members of PPP and PML (N), "resolves to undo all illegal and unconstitutional and immoral acts of the usurper and calls upon the chief executive to take all necessary measures for redeeming the honour of judges and reversing extra-constitutional measures". According to the author of the draft resolution, once the resolution was passed, parliament would pass a law overturning the ruling by the post-November 3 Supreme Court that had validated the dismissal of the judges.
There is the likelihood that President Pervez Musharraf will seek a court injunction against this move which, in the existing circumstances he might get, sharply contrasting to his earlier admission that his November 3 action was unconstitutional. But that would only precipitate the final showdown: the coalition government, which by then is expected to have mustered two-thirds of the Parliamentarians (295 MNAs and Senators) may go for impeachment of President Musharraf.
The fact is that all major political developments, particularly since March 9, 2007 when the President moved against Chief Justice Chaudhry, have defied his expectations. The Murree Declaration is the latest in that series, and it should send a clear message to the presidential quarters that time has come for President Pervez Musharraf to recognise the reality of the situation. He has arrived at the fork; he may go for another grisly round and end up as an impeached president or gracefully walk into the sunset.