The case of the Swiss letter

Running out the clock for as long as possible may be the only option the SC now has left for beleaguered PPP.

Ever since being elected, the Pakistan Peoples Party has been haunted by the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) and the fallout of the mass amnesty granted by General (retd) Pervez Musharraf. By now, there can be no doubt that it will be unable to contend with an increasingly stubborn Supreme Court during its remaining few months in power. The Supreme Court’s hearing on the Swiss letter case on August 27, with Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf appearing in the Court, may have ended in a stalemate with the prime minister given until September 18 as his next date before the judiciary. But no one should mistake that for a reprieve. The only thing the Supreme Court wants is for the prime minister to write the letter and if he is unwilling to do so, he will be removed from power, just as Yousaf Raza Gilani was before him.

Some would say that, perhaps, the Supreme Court should have recognised the perfect face-saving measure that the PPP had provided to it in order to end this long-standing constitutional morass. In explaining its refusal to write the letter, Prime Minister Ashraf specifically cited the president’s immunity from prosecution and claimed that asking for the Swiss cases to be reopened would violate this constitutional provision. The Supreme Court, however, chose not to pay heed to this argument. The Swiss authorities have also said in the past that they would be unlikely to reopen any case against a sitting head of state. What is important now is that this matter be brought to a dignified close that allows the PPP to live out its remaining days in power without any further clash between institutions. The sanctity of the Constitution, the principles of democracy and political stability must be upheld by all stakeholders.

The PPP is now in a battle of time for its own survival. It is able to weather the dismissal of one prime minister; another forced removal may precipitate early polls. That may just be why Ashraf asked for a few more weeks to study the legal aspects of the case — a request that would otherwise be absurd given that the PPP has had more than two years to formulate its position in the matter. Running out the clock for as long as possible may be the only option the Supreme Court now has left for the beleaguered PPP.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 28^th, 2012.