Who Is Defending Pakistan's Democracy? Not the Politicians, It's the Judges

By Medea Benjamin, AlterNet. Posted November 29, 2007.

The heroes in Pakistan aren't returning former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif -- it's the Supreme Court and High Court judges who stopped Musharraf's assault on the Constitution.

The heroes in today's Pakistan are not the returning former prime ministers -- Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif -- but the Supreme Court and High Court judges who refused to accept Gen. Musharraf's emergency law putting the Constitution in abeyance. When asked to take a new oath pledging to uphold his "Provisional Constitutional Order," they simply said no. While politicians Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif are making deals with Musharraf to get back into power, these judges are putting principle over power. They may have lost their seats on the bench, but they have won the hearts of millions of Pakistanis.

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