NRO hearing: PM to appear before SC today

Allies rally behind government in Swiss letter row, pledge to stand united in the face of challenges.

ISLAMABAD: There will be no surprises today, at least from the government’s side, during the crucial hearing of the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) implementation case today. 

Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf will appear before the Supreme Court today, but he will only do so to tell the highest court in the land that the president has immunity from prosecution and that writing a letter to Swiss authorities to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari would go against the presidential immunity— setting the stage for a fate similar to his predecessor’s.

The decisions to appear before the court and refusal to write a letter were taken at the Presidency late Sunday night at a meeting of government and coalition parties that was jointly chaired by President Zardari and Premier Ashraf.

A five-member bench hearing the NRO implementation case has ordered the premier to write a letter to Swiss authorities to reopen graft cases against President Zardari.

There were murmurs that an overwhelming majority of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leaders were not in favour of the premier’s appearance before the Supreme Court and a high-level meeting on Friday night remained short of taking any final decision in this regard.

The bench issued a show cause notice to the prime minister earlier this month to explain reasons behind the failure in writing the letter despite crystal clear orders by the court on July 12. The government had already filed a review petition against the summoning of the premier and the court’s July 12 order, but a decision in the case is still pending.

An official statement issued by the Presidency confirmed that the government and coalition parties had decided that the premier would appear before the court, alongside cabinet ministers and coalition partners to symbolise unity in their decision.

“After weighing available options, the meeting decided that in line with the coalition government policy of showing respect to the majesty of law, the prime minister will appear before the Supreme Court on Monday,” the statement said.

“Accordingly Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf will appear before the Supreme Court on Monday in response to the notice issued to him,” the statement added.

Response

Even though the handout didn’t explicitly state what the premier would say to the five-member bench, a party leader who attended the meeting told The Express Tribune that he would follow his predecessor Yousaf Raza Gilani in this regard.

Gilani refused to write letter to Swiss authorities, arguing that the president has immunity from prosecution under the national and international laws. However, the Supreme Court wasn’t satisfied with the former premier’s argument, charging him with the contempt of court and disqualifying him from public office.

The coalition leader said the government would also seek deferment of the court’s order to the prime minister until the review petition against the July 12 order is decided.

Presidential spokesperson Senator Farhatullah Babar said the meeting discussed the current political situation in the country with particular reference to the court cases against the government. Law Minister Farooq Naek gave a comprehensive briefing on the court cases and the options available to the government to tackle them.

The coalition partners also resolved to stand united in the face of challenges confronting the government and the prime minister, Babar added. The president and the prime minister thanked coalition partners for their continued support in the face of adversity and said that their support was most-valuable for political stability in the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 27^th, 2012.