Top Judge Suspended, so President Resigns

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif suspended Pakistan’s chief justice--prompting the president’s surprise resignation and ending a political feud that had raised fears of an army takeover. President Farooq Leghari quit rather than appoint a replacement for his ally, Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah. The 2-week-old crisis arose out of a fierce dispute between Sharif and Shah over expanding the Supreme Court that had split the judiciary and parliament and cast the army chief in the unlikely role of mediator. Shah eventually won that battle, but not before he resurrected corruption charges against the prime minister and struck down other legislation passed by parliament. On Tuesday, Shah issued a ruling to restore the power of the president to dissolve parliament. However, 10 of the 17 Supreme Court justices on the expanded panel voted almost immediately to overturn Shah’s ruling. The prime minister then suspended the chief justice.