Government will accept court orders if Ashraf is disqualified: Aitzaz Ahsan

Ahsan says judiciary is not playing politics, but some political elements are using it for their nefarious gains.


Abdul Manan August 14, 2012

LAHORE: Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) senior leader Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan said on Tuesday that if the Supreme Court removes Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf in the NRO implementation case, then his party will accept the orders and appoint a new premier.

Ahsan, while addressing a press conference at his residence, ruled out chances of finding any ‘middle way’ in the case. “There is no middle way in the contempt proceedings against Ashraf as the Supreme Court is bound to remove prime ministers in contempt cases like it did in the case of Yousaf Raza Gilani.”

He said that the PPP has decided to let the parliament complete its tenure till March 2013 and if the court removes four more premiers then the parliament will present and elect dozens more till the end of its tenure. He added that neither can the Supreme Court dissolve the parliament nor the parliament can oust the entire judiciary.

When asked if the government will take any action against the apex court, Ahsan said, “I assure the people of Pakistan that the government would never exercise any such tactics which degrades the judiciary.”

“Till March 2013, the Supreme Court will remain engaged in sending back premiers while the PPP-led coalition government is determined to elect more prime ministers,” he maintained.

Is judiciary playing politics?

When asked if the judiciary is playing politics, Ahsan said, “The judiciary is not playing politics, but some political elements are using it to achieve their nefarious goals.”

He added that in the NRO implementation case, the judiciary is on the wrong track.

Ahsan further said that the Article 248 of the Constitution clearly restricts the premier to proceed against the president of Pakistan, but the judiciary is on a mission to send back elected prime ministers instead of honouring the Constitution.

He said that the apex court, instead of only hearing political petitions, should focus on the problems of ordinary people like issues pertaining to registration of FIRs, issuance of stay orders against the construction of their houses, and decide hundreds of pending cases of civil and criminal nature.

He also advised the political parties to not approach the courts in each and every issue.

COMMENTS (25)

Ujala | 11 years ago | Reply

It would be unfortunate if the current prime minister is also disqualified and a contempt notice is issued to the president. These actions would be an extremely destabilizing development, especially if the PPP-led federal coalition decides to appoint a new prime minister who also refuses to write the letter. Will the Supreme Court then disqualify him? There is another dimension to the current political situation in Pakistan. We are witnessing another type of power struggle between the elected institutions and non-elected state institutions. In the past, this struggle was between the non-elected military and the elected civilian institutions. Now, the non-elected Supreme Court is endeavoring to expand its domain at the expense of the elected parliament and the elected executive. Such an effort can strengthen the position of the Supreme Court in the political system but it cannot rectify the ills of the political system or remove the so-called corrupt politicians from the political scene. It would mere result in destabilization of nascent democracy. Judiciary must show some restraint because another blow for democracy could be fatal.

Umar | 11 years ago | Reply

@Zaheer: Sorry, what these so called stalwarts says does not matter either. What matters is Justice. If Asma, Kurd, Munir Khosa and sundry are frustrated so be it.

Justice needs to be implemented and the PM, President etc are not above law.

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