The Supr\u00ademe Court has taken exception to remarks made by British High Commissioner Jane Marriott during a public event, in which she underlined the \u201cimportance of democracy, elections and need for open societies\u201d. On the instructions of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, the court\u2019s registrar, Jazeela Aslam, wrote a letter to Ms Marriott on May 3. The letter notes that the British government expressed the need for open societies and democracy and offered criticism on the Supreme Court\u2019s decision, through the high commissioner\u2019s speech at the Asma Jehangir Conference on April 27, expressing the hope that \u201creciprocity would presumably be acceptable\u201d. The contents of the letter suggest that exception was taken to the Jan 13 Supreme Court judgement which ruled against allotting the election symbol, bat, to the PTI. The registrar\u2019s letter explained that the Elections Act of 2017 required democracy within political parties through holding of intra-party elections in order to discourage \u201cautocracy, or even dictatorship\u201d, within them. \u201cThe Supreme Court reiterated what the law stipulated. Therefore the criticism with regard to this decision, with utmost respect, was unjustified,\u201d Jazeela Aslam, the registrar, wrote in her letter. In her speech, Ms Marriott had emphasised that democracy should never be taken for granted and that people should avoid being complacent. She then cited Foreign Secretary David Cameron\u2019s remarks that the large turnout was in spite of concerns about fairness and inclusivity in the elections. \u201cNot all political parties were permitted to contest the elections, legal process was used to prevent some political parties from participation and the use of recognised party symbol,\u201d the high commissioner had said in her speech at the conference. The registrar explained that elections in Pakistan were required to be held within 90 days of completion of the tenure of the National Assembly and the four provincial legislatures, but were delayed because the president and the ECP were at odds about who had had the powers to announce the date. But the matter was finally resolved in just 12 days by the Supreme Court and general elections were held throughout Pakistan on Feb 8, the letter said. It was gratifying that the Excellency had repeatedly stressed the importance of \u2018open societies\u2019 which she stated were necessary for vibrant democracies. \u201cYou will be pleased to learn that the Supreme Court has recognized the right to information and vigorously applied it to itself,\u201d the letter said. \u201cIt is worthy to mention that it was upon the current CJP\u2019s assumption of office that cases of public importance began to be broadcast live for the first time in Pakistan\u2019s history,\u201d the letter said. \u201cLet us embrace the truth, which sets us free,\u201d the letter said, adding that persisting with \u201cviolent, undemocratic mistakes\u201d of the past condemns present and future generations to enduring cycles of violence. It then recalled two historic events; the 1953 overthrow of Mohammad Mossadegh\u2019s government in Iran to access oil, and the unilateral enforcement of the Balfour declaration by the British government. In the case of the former, Ms Aslam noted, should the truth not be revealed even after seven decades of cover-up. \u201cWill this not prove therapeutic for the perpetrator and the victim? Will it not engender trust, possibly friendship and peace?\u201d Referring to the creation of Israel, the letter referred to the \u201cJewish Zionist aspirations\u201d which the British government ceded to when it wrote to an individual, its own citizen, conveying its decision to establish a settler-colonial state. \u201cThis decision was not voted upon by the people of the area who were impacted by it, nor even by her own. The British government and not Parliament, unilaterally decided it. The Balfour Declaration became the foundation on which an ethnic state was established,\u201d the letter said. Copies of the registrar\u2019s letter have been sent to Lord Robert John Reed, the President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, and Baroness Sue Lascelles Carr, Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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