Zardari breaks silence: ‘Govt will accept parliamentary panel’s findings on memo’

"We are not at war with the judiciary. Why would we be at war with the military? There is no war," Zardari said in an interview with Geo News TV channel.

KARACHI / ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari has said that his government will accept the findings of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security on the Memogate scandal because parliament is the supreme institution of the country.

The apex court has also formed a parallel high-level judicial commission to probe the memo controversy, which has created a semblance of confrontation between the government and the judiciary.

Speaking during a television interview, however, the president said that the government was not at war with the judiciary or the military. He believed that the Memogate scandal was blown out of proportion by people ‘who want to destabilise the country’.

In the wide-ranging interview, Zardari said that Husain Haqqani, then Pakistani ambassador in Washington, might have met Mansoor Ijaz, the central character in the memo row, because it was part of Haqqani’s responsibilities to develop contacts with influential people in the US.

He added that the government did not take legal action on the basis of Ijaz’s article in the Financial Times because doing so would have been against the “national interest”.

President Zardari said that most PPP leaders believe that the government should not write a letter to the Swiss authorities requesting reopening of graft cases against him. The Supreme Court has given the government one week to implement its verdict on the defunct National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) and reopen cases against all irrespective of their political offices.

However, the President said that writing a letter to the Swiss authorities would be tantamount to putting the grave of his slain wife Benazir Bhutto on trial. He added that after the expiry of his term, anybody could put him on trial.

About Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf, President Zardari said that his government did not try the former military ruler because his trial would have demoralised the armed forces of Pakistan. However, he added that, if needed, Parliament would put him on trial.

He said that Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani had referred to Musharraf when he said that the slain al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was in Pakistan without a visa.

When asked about media reports that Indus Airlines was owned by his sister, the President said the licence of this new airline should be cancelled. He added that his sister has dedicated her life to politics.

About the reports of early parliamentary elections, Zardari said that he was ready to discuss with the opposition all issues, including early elections.

Meeting with coalition

Elections did come under discussion during a meeting of parliamentary heads of parties in the ruling coalition called by President Zardari to take them into confidence over the issue.

Some of the meeting’s participants revealed that there was broad-based agreement at the meeting that the next general elections should be held soon after the next budget.

“We want the government to present its last budget this June,” said the leader of a coalition party. “General elections are likely to be held around October 2011. The schedule can come before or immediately after the new budget.”

Sources added that after last few months’ political turbulence, the president appeared visibly relieved on Friday’s meeting, and was appreciative of Nawaz Sharif’s recent gestures of support for the incumbent system.

Senate polls

Parties in the ruling coalition decided to field ‘consensus candidates’ and amicably allocate seats to each other in the Senate, in accordance with to their respective numerical strengths in provincial assemblies. Parties in the opposition have also been approached to convince them to adopt this procedure, sources added.

Participants of the meeting said that no date was decided for Senate polls, but added that they could take place anytime between February 12 and March 11. “We will have no issue over the timing,” one of the participants said.

Sources say the ruling PPP wants to cross the poll milestone as soon as possible but Senate elections cannot be held before February 12, due to constitutional bars.

Resolving differences

Bringing quarreling coalition partners close was also on the agenda.

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the Awami National Party (ANP) have been recently sparring over creation of new provinces.

“One of the reasons for convening this meeting was to bring ANP and MQM on the table,” said a PPP leader.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 7^th, 2012.