PAKISTAN:PAKISTAN'S NEW prime minister ordered the release from house arrest of the country's former chief justice within minutes of coming to power yesterday, driving home how rapidly president Pervez Musharraf's authority is ebbing.
Shortly after he was elected by a thumping majority by the new parliament, Yousaf Raza Gilani ordered the release of about 10 judges, headed by Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, who have been illegally detained at home since November 3rd.
The Islamabad police had already received the message and lifted the barbed wire from around the judges' homes. Activists flooded towards Mr Chaudhry's house, some scaling the low walls of what had officially been termed a sub-jail less than an hour earlier.
The judge stood at the balcony with his wife and three children and addressed the raucous crowd squeezed into his garden. "I do not have words to thank you all," he said as fistfuls of petals filled the air.
It was Mr Chaudhry's first public appearance in almost five months. But he said the fight for a free judiciary was not over. "We must keep our efforts focused for a bright future for Pakistan for the rule of law and the supremacy of the constitution," he said.
Supporters, many of whom have clashed with police over recent months, appeared dazed that their hero was finally free.
"This is the victory of the people," declared Saeed Mehmood, a lawyer from nearby Rawalpindi. "I feel proud to be a Pakistani," said Athar Minallah, a confidant of the judge.
The government has promised to reinstate 60 judges fired by Mr Musharraf, at least 10 of whom were under house arrest, within 30 days. A senior city administrator told state media that "all deposed judges are free to move".
The emotional scenes followed historic changes at the parliament where Mr Gilani, an understated loyalist of the assassinated opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, was elected with 264 votes against 42 for Mr Musharraf's man, Pervaiz Elahi.
"Democracy has been revived due to the sacrifice of Benazir Bhutto," he said in his first remarks as prime minister.
Ms Bhutto's son and political heir, 19-year-old Bilawal, watched from the visitor's gallery, wiping a tear from his eye.
Mr Gilani's victory underlined the strength of the four-party coalition. For the first time Ms Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party has formed an alliance with its traditional rival, Nawaz Sharif, as well as a Pashtun nationalist party and a small pro-Taliban religious party.
Mr Gilani also said he would press for a UN inquiry into the assassination of Ms Bhutto on December 27th.
Suspicions remain that he is holding the prime minister's seat warm for Ms Bhutto's widower, Asif Ali Zardari, who is likely to qualify for the job after a byelection due in May. But in a newspaper interview yesterday Mr Zardari insisted that Mr Gilani would serve a full five-year term.
Meanwhile, Mr Musharraf's powers are likely to be slashed by the government, reducing him to a largely symbolic role.
- (Guardian service)