Restraint for Now: Pakistan’s Supreme Court Seeks Compromise with Government

The institutional clash between Pakistan’s judiciary and civilian government, which has paralyzed Islamabad in recent months, seems to have abated—for now. On July 25, rather than take legal action against Prime Minister for defying court orders, the Supreme Court gave the government until August 8 to come up with a compromise solution to the civil-judicial showdown. The author explains that historically, Pakistan’s judiciary has supported military regimes against civilian governments, but that in this case, the court is acting on its own stead. Unfortunately, these high-level power plays are unfolding at the expense of the Pakistani people.

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