Baseer Naveed [senior researcher, Asian Human Rights Commission]: "The election of Mr. Mohammad Yousaf Raza Gillani as prime minister of Pakistan is itself a threat of the old regime of President General (retired) Musharraf and even his very existence. Mr. Gillani was loyal to Ms. Benazir Bhutto, the lifetime chairperson of the Pakistan People's Party and is also very loyal to Mr. Asif Zardari, the widower and co-chairman of the party and its chairman Mr. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. The new prime minister is thought to be a hawk and is very anti the Musharraf government. This is a clear signal from the coalition partners of the newly elected parliament.

The newly elected prime minister's first order was to release the deposed judges who were arrested after the imposition of state of emergency on November 3, 2007. The prime minister before that requested the speaker and members of the National Assembly to issue two resolutions, one for a probe of the murder of Ms. Benazir Bhutto on December 27, 2007 and the second one to apologize on the 'judicial' murder of Mr. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, former prime minister and father of Ms. Bhutto, who was hanged on April 5, 1979 on the orders of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

The first order of the release of the deposed judges was a clear denunciation of the actions of President Musharraf against the superior judiciary. The issue of chief justice of Pakistan and restoration of the judiciary is an irritating one for President Musharraf, as he has announced that the deposed judges will never be re-instated at any cost, and that the deposed chief justice is the most corrupt man in the country and a curse on the earth.

The deposed judiciary and judges are to be re-instated within 30 days through the resolution passed by the National Assembly. After the restoration of the deposed judiciary, all the cases that have been decided or are still pending before the courts, which were formed illegally and unconstitutionally by President Musharraf through the state of emergency and Provisional Constitution Order (PCO), will have to be revised as the deposed judges had already declared the state of emergency illegal and unconstitutional. Therefore the cases which were decided by the PCO judges will not have any legal bases.

When the previously deposed judges are back in their seats, the first thing they will follow up on will be their own previous ruling against the emergency and by virtue of their decision the country will go back to the position of November 2, 2007 in the political sense. President Musharraf will be declared as the "usurper" who abrogated the constitution and is liable to be challenged by any citizen according to Article 6 of the constitution of Pakistan, which has the punishment of the death penalty.

The deposed judges of Sindh High Court will restart the proceedings against the carnage of Karachi of May 12, 2007, in which 140 persons were killed on the same day, when deposed chief justice Mr. Iftekhar Choudhry arrived in the city. It was the case which was taken by the high court itself when judges of the court were detained for almost 18 hours in their chambers and were beaten by the workers of Mutehda Qaumi Movement (MQM), the coalition partner in Musharraf government. During the proceedings of the full bench of Sindh High Court, the workers of MQM stormed the court building and again detained and beat the judges for several hours.

A good aspect of the order of the prime minister would be the close contact between the judiciary and the lawyers for the rule of law and supremacy of judiciary which will remain a sharp sword over the coming governments and politicians as well. A strong civil society will emerge.

Regarding the two resolutions of the enquiry into the murder of Ms. Benazir Bhutto through UNO and the apology from the parliament on the judicial murder of Mr. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, the implications will have a far reaching effect on the judiciary and army officers. The old judiciary, prior to March 9, 2007, was a poodle in the hands of military dictators and usurpers. If the resolution is passed in favor of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto then it would result in the shape of the Nuremberg Tribunal and the army of Pakistan will have to face the consequences.

The probe into the murder of Ms Benazir Bhutto through UNO will lead to the role of state intelligence agencies being investigated. A whole new chapter will be opened in the political history of Pakistan about the criminal role of intelligence agencies who had a hand in killing so many political leaders of the country, in the training of terrorists, even international terrorists like some Arab, Afghan and Asian and African terrorists. This would yield dangerous results as it will expose how the military governments and rulers were involved in international terrorism, including some affairs of the Usama Bin Laden.