Swiss letter: Govt set to present first draft before SC today
To withdraw Qayyum letter, but say no further action required in Zardari cases.
ISLAMABAD:
The legal team of government will present the first draft of a contentious letter to be written to Swiss authorities before a five-member bench of the Supreme Court today (Tuesday).
Prepared by Law Minister Farooq Naek in consultation with government counsel Waseem Sajjad, the draft seeks the withdrawal of letters written back in May 22, 2008, by the then attorney general Malik Qayum – who had communicated to Swiss authorities that Pakistan was no longer interested in pursuing graft charges against President Asif Ali Zardari and his late wife, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
However, at the same time, the draft is expected to not only defend immunity for President Zardari as head of state, but also state that no further action is required in these cases. Whether or not this is acceptable to the court remains to be seen. If the draft is not acceptable to the court, the government is expected to seek more time to prepare another draft.
“The federation is likely to show its willingness to withdraw Attorney General Malik Qayyum’s letter P/11105/1997 and CP 289/97 of 22 May 2008. But it would not budge from its stance on the immunity president enjoys from all sorts of prosecution, locally and internationally. The draft includes all the relevant clauses,” a senior Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader told The Express Tribune sharing his views on the draft.
On the last date of hearing, Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf assured the court that the government was now ready to write a letter to Swiss authorities as directed by the court. He told the court that he would authorise Naek to implement court orders in this regard. After his assurances, the court exempted the premier from personal appearance and asked him to authorise the law minister in writing.
“If you give them (law minister or attorney general) written authorisation, you are absolved. It will be between us and them,” were the remarks of Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, who heads the five-judge NRO implementation case.
PPP sources said that, since the prime minister has been exonerated from personal appearance, the legal team is also likely to ask the court to withdraw the show cause notice it had served to Premier Ashraf. Once the prime minister is cleared, the burden would fall on Naek and whatever course he adopts in this case.
Interestingly, when former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani was in hot water on the same issue, the then law minister Babar Awan is reported to have declined to take the brunt of the court’s ire. He also refused to appear as a witness to testify before the court to help Gilani.
The letter sage began when the Supreme Court struck down the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), under which a number of cases against political figures were dropped – including the Swiss cases against President Zardari and his family. Once the NRO was scrapped, the government was ordered by the court to retract the Qayyum letter written to Swiss authorities – something the government seemed adamant not to do, until it surprisingly relented last week.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 25th, 2012.
The legal team of government will present the first draft of a contentious letter to be written to Swiss authorities before a five-member bench of the Supreme Court today (Tuesday).
Prepared by Law Minister Farooq Naek in consultation with government counsel Waseem Sajjad, the draft seeks the withdrawal of letters written back in May 22, 2008, by the then attorney general Malik Qayum – who had communicated to Swiss authorities that Pakistan was no longer interested in pursuing graft charges against President Asif Ali Zardari and his late wife, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
However, at the same time, the draft is expected to not only defend immunity for President Zardari as head of state, but also state that no further action is required in these cases. Whether or not this is acceptable to the court remains to be seen. If the draft is not acceptable to the court, the government is expected to seek more time to prepare another draft.
“The federation is likely to show its willingness to withdraw Attorney General Malik Qayyum’s letter P/11105/1997 and CP 289/97 of 22 May 2008. But it would not budge from its stance on the immunity president enjoys from all sorts of prosecution, locally and internationally. The draft includes all the relevant clauses,” a senior Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader told The Express Tribune sharing his views on the draft.
On the last date of hearing, Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf assured the court that the government was now ready to write a letter to Swiss authorities as directed by the court. He told the court that he would authorise Naek to implement court orders in this regard. After his assurances, the court exempted the premier from personal appearance and asked him to authorise the law minister in writing.
“If you give them (law minister or attorney general) written authorisation, you are absolved. It will be between us and them,” were the remarks of Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, who heads the five-judge NRO implementation case.
PPP sources said that, since the prime minister has been exonerated from personal appearance, the legal team is also likely to ask the court to withdraw the show cause notice it had served to Premier Ashraf. Once the prime minister is cleared, the burden would fall on Naek and whatever course he adopts in this case.
Interestingly, when former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani was in hot water on the same issue, the then law minister Babar Awan is reported to have declined to take the brunt of the court’s ire. He also refused to appear as a witness to testify before the court to help Gilani.
The letter sage began when the Supreme Court struck down the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), under which a number of cases against political figures were dropped – including the Swiss cases against President Zardari and his family. Once the NRO was scrapped, the government was ordered by the court to retract the Qayyum letter written to Swiss authorities – something the government seemed adamant not to do, until it surprisingly relented last week.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 25th, 2012.