The implications of partial justice  (DAWN, Karachi) — ON the
day after an unprecedentedly broad bench of Pakistan’s Supreme
Court pronounced its death sentence against the National
Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), the government in Islamabad felt
obliged to dispel rumours of a coup in the making. The
perception that something extraordinary was afoot was reinforced
when immigration authorities prevented the defence minister,
Ahmed Mukhtar, from boarding a flight for an official visit to
China.   The government rallied its thoughts and opted for
defiance. Four officials lost their jobs over Mukhtar’s
humiliation, and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani declared that
President Asif Ali Zardari would ignore opposition demands to
step down. He also made light of a reported arrest warrant for
the interior minister, Rehman Malik.   A hurriedly convened
session of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) central
executive resolved that, contrary to the advice of the recently
reinstated Aitzaz Ahsan, there would be no