Preparations: Gilani sets ground for fresh court encounter

Prime minister says ‘all elements’ wanting to stop Senate elections will be exposed in next few days.

LAHORE:

A tactful prime minister, it would seem initially, had gone into his shell. A day after being indicted by the apex court in contempt proceedings, he did not use the word ‘immunity’ or defend his actions.

But, by the end of Thursday, he would unveil a new, calculated dimension to his offensive.

Asked by the media following an inauguration event in Lahore about the Supreme Court summons and the proceedings against him slated for February 13, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani repeated his mantras: “I respect the decision of the court” and “when I go there I respond to them.”

When a frustrated media decided to take a more direct approach, brazenly asking him why the government was stubbornly not writing a letter to the Swiss authorities (regarding President Asif Ali Zardari’s cases) despite court orders, he replied: “Since the matter is in court, my lawyer will respond to the court in this regard.”

However, it was almost as if the man from Multan was waiting for the right opening to go a step ahead – in his own distinctive way.

Prime Minister Gilani was then asked when the conflict between the government and the judiciary would end – Memogate had ‘defused’ after much effort, but now another case threatened his incumbency.

A self-assured prime minister replied: “The nation will have to wait a few more days (for the end of the ‘conflict’).” He then hastened to add, almost as a scripted afterthought, that “the conflict had not been started on my part.”

Of course, with this answer, the temptation was too great for the journalists to abstain: Did Gilani believe that the courts were a part of the supposed conspiracy to stop the Senate election?

His answer was classically double-edged, both harmless and toxic, depending on how you want to interpret it: He said he had been saying for six months now that ‘all elements’ are involved in the attempt to stop the Senate elections, set to be swept by his party, the PPP.

And then, pre-empting a follow-up on that statement, Gilani put forward intrigue of his own – saying that all conspirators would be
unearthed in the next few days.

Asked about early election, he replied: “The time for the Senate election is approaching and will definitely be in March; then [our] fifth budget will be presented, and, after that, if political parties desire for general elections, then we can talk with them.”

The controlled aggression of Gilani and the PPP would make another appearance during a public gathering on the outskirts of Lahore later in the day.

In his address, the prime minister vowed to stand by the “principles and philosophy of Bhuttoism” and to neither ‘bow’ nor be ‘sold’. Scoffing at talk of the government’s anxiety over his possible dismissal, he said that his office meant nothing to him. He said the PPP could not be wiped out by removing someone from office, as had been tried before. He said PPP leaders would prefer to leave office quietly if they feel they had lost the support of the public.

PPP Punjab President Imtiaz Safdar Warraich, in his address, asked the people to make ‘pledge’ – one that they would stand with Prime Minister Gilani’s struggle for principles. Warraich said the public should stand up for their premier to discourage all those who wanted to topple the PPP government.

For that ‘other’ institution?

The premier also struck a jingoistic note, for certain quarters that have been questioning the PPP’s patriotism.

He first warned that no-one should dare look to meddle with the country’s sovereignty – and went on to question the ability of religious parties and their benefactors. He said that religious parties failed to block the Nato supply route, and it was the PPP government which not only dared to take the step but also had Shamsi Airbase vacated by the US as well as boycotted the Bonn conference in protest against trespassing into Pakistan’s sovereignty.

On fuel prices, the prime minister said that he has constituted a committee with the consultation of the opposition leader, which would deal with this issue.

(Read: Reaction - Everything, and anything, is possible)

Published in The Express Tribune, February 4^th, 2012.