Pakistan PM wins time in legal wrangle over president
PAKISTAN: Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf Monday
won a few more weeks' breathing space in a long-running legal wrangle
over the reopening of graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.
The Supreme Court ordered Ashraf in July to comply with an order to
write to authorities in Switzerland asking them to reopen multimillion
dollar corruption probes investigating the president.
Ashraf's predecessor, Yousuf Raza Gilani, was thrown out of office
for refusing to write to the Swiss and the court has made veiled threats
that the new premier could suffer the same fate. The court had given
Ashraf until August 8 to indicate whether he would write to the Swiss
before adjourning the case to try to find a way out of the saga, which
has dragged on for two and a half years. On Monday Judge Asif Saeed
Khosa adjourned the case again, to September 18, after Ashraf pledged to
find a way to resolve the standoff.
The government has resisted judges' demands to reopen investigations
into Zardari, arguing he enjoys immunity as head of state.
Earlier this month the Supreme Court struck down a new law passed by
parliament that sought to exempt members of the government from contempt
trials, clearing the way for legal proceedings against the premier. The
showdown could force elections before February 2013 when the government
would otherwise become the first in Pakistan's history to complete an
elected, full five-year mandate.
During a 45-minute address to the court, the prime minister said he
was determined to find a way to bring an end to a chapter that has
caused turmoil in Pakistani politics. “I will make all out efforts to
bring an end to uncertainty that prevailed in the country,” he said.
“It is my firm belief that it is not in Pakistan's interest to linger
on this issue. I am ready to give a positive commitment to this court
that I will resolve this issue.” Government lawyers last month said the
court's order to write to the Swiss was “un-implementable” as it ran
contrary to the constitution, which grants immunity to Zardari against
trial in any court while he is president. Critics of the judiciary and
members of Zardari's main ruling Pakistan People's Party accuse the
court of overstepping its reach and waging a personal vendetta against
the president.
Experts say that if Ashraf does not satisfy the court, he risks being
indicted for contempt, precipitating the second trial against a sitting
prime minister in months.
The allegations against Zardari date back to the 1990s, when he and
his late wife, former premier Benazir Bhutto, are suspected of
laundering $12 million allegedly paid in bribes by companies seeking
customs inspection contracts. AFP |