LAHORE:
The Pakistan Peoples Party is believed to have crafted a plan to outfox any move designed to unseat Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani following his conviction by the Supreme Court in a contempt case.
Following the apex court’s detailed verdict, the party has resolved that premier Gilani does not merit disqualification, and has devised a plan to prolong the issue.
According to the PPP legal team, Speaker of the National Assembly Dr Fehmida Mirza – on whom the fate of the prime minister depends – will reject the prime minister’s disqualification within a time period of 30 days, entitled under article 63 (2) of the Constitution.
According to the article, the speaker can decide whether or not the premier will be disqualified once a reference in this regard is filed. If the speaker chooses to remain silent, the issue would automatically go to the Election Commission of Pakistan.
However, Dr Mirza has been asked to declare her decision within 30 days without waiting for a reference from anyone, in case someone moves the Supreme Court against the premier or in case the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) directly approaches the ECP.
Sources in the PPP said that the party did not want to give an opportunity to the ECP to take action; thus, by May 25, the NA speaker will take a decision on the premier’s future and may absolve him from disqualification.
Sources have also disclosed that the PPP will file an appeal in the apex court against the verdict in the last week of the 30-day deadline.
Naek in Senate
The premier’s disqualification was also brought up in the Senate on Thursday, with Law Minister Farooq Naek saying the issue would not go further if the speaker National Assembly deemed it pointless.
“The Election Commission cannot take up the issue of the prime minister’s disqualification until the National Assembly Speaker observes that a question of disqualification arises,” Naek said.
The minister said that the decision of the ECP, whatever it may be, would be implemented and honoured.
References
Meanwhile, Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan said that the PML-N will file a reference against the premier in the ECP in the coming week. He said that a few clauses including 63(1)g does not authorise the NA speaker to deliver a judgment on court rulings.
Supreme Court Advocate AK Dogar said that he would file a petition in the apex court today (Friday), seeking the immediate disqualification of Gilani as the prime minister.
Another petitioner, Azhar Siddique, also plans to file a petition, pleading the apex court to direct the ECP to de-notify the premier from his office.
PPP’s delaying strategy
According to sources, the PPP feels that the Supreme Court will fail to form an eight-member bench to hear the appeal, as it lacks one judge.
Therefore, they added, till the formation of the bench, the status of an appeal will remain pending and in the meantime the speaker may reject the reference against the prime minister.
Neglected members call for resignation
As an overwhelming majority of the PPP rallies behind Prime Minister Gilani after his conviction, some neglected souls in the ruling group have come up with a different piece of advice for him: take the high moral ground and resign immediately.
According to them, such a move will help the premier as well as the party regain lost credibility ahead of the general elections.
The advice was given by some old guards of the PPP whose dissident voices had hardly been heard since President Asif Ali Zardari took the reins of the party after the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto in 2007.
More importantly, according to some insiders, Senator Raza Rabbani had also cautioned the leadership against touching ‘extremes’ in the ongoing battle with the judiciary after the verdict.
Talking to The Express Tribune, both Zafar Ali Shah and Nawab Yousaf Talpur said they believed the prime minister should resign on moral grounds.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY ZIA KHAN IN ISLAMABAD
Published in The Express Tribune, May 11th, 2012.
COMMENTS (7)
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The PM should stay in office as long as possible. He is the elected Prime Minister of the people of Pakistan and we shall re-elect or oust him by the power of our votes not on the directives of some PCO judges.
Gilani should never resign. Last time, when Hussain Haqqani resigned to avoid controversy, the court, the “analyses”, and Pakistan Memo League started jumping around, and started saying that his resignation is the “proof” of his guilt. Given this mindset of the politicians who have flourished under dictatorships, I urge the PM not to yield, come what may. I could still remember that Mian Nawaz Sharif before coming out from his hideout for long march called Hillary Clinton to ask Pakistan Government not to arrest him, what was that, wasn’t it a treason involving US secretary of state in personal affairs, but when it comes to PPP, in case of Hussain Haqqani, suddenly the dead conscience of PML-N leaders awake and it is labeled as an act of treason. Mian Sahib’s tirade against a key institution should not be taken as face value; he is very important agent of the same institution.
The detailed verdict of the Supreme Court (SC) is out. It is not written in the verdict that the Prime Minister (PM) Yousaf Raza Gilani step down or be removed from office. The PM’s lawyer, Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan has decided to challenge the verdict, filing an appeal against it in the SC. Until the review petition, the PM has an inalienable right to serve. This is also the courts’ procedural system; in case of a conviction, the verdict can be challenged. The PM enjoys the support of all coalition partners and on May 3, 2012, the government and its coalition partners adopted a resolution in both houses and all their MPs showed confidence in the PM. Therefore, there is no question of his stepping down from office. Being patriotic Pakistanis, the leaders of opposition parties should respect resolutions of the elected parliament, as the detailed verdict of the SC has also not asked for his resignation. The confrontation between government and opposition is not good for the country in the present scenario, when there is a faltering economy, energy crisis, widespread poverty and war with militant groups. All concerned quarters need to be more responsible and patriotic.
nawab yousaf talpur great & honest parlimentrain pakistan
I beleive that PPP will not take such steps that will protect its respect.
The PM,s chair can be won back but grace and dignity once lost will never come again.the more PPP evolves delaying tactics the more they are losing ground in the political field. Better be a dignified labourer than a laughing stock in prime ministerial palace.