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Pakistani cabinet to back PM, President amid crisis

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

ISLAMABAD, Jan 11, IRNA -- Pakistani Federal Cabinet Wednesday expressed confidence in President Asif Ali and Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani a day after the country’s Supreme Court warned the Prime Minister of disqualification for failing to act on an earlier court order.

The Cabinet meeting held under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani has started at Prime Minister’s Secretariat, an official statement said.

Hours after the apex court issued a warning of disqualification of the President and the Prime Minister, both the leaders presided over an emergency meeting of Parliamentary heads of Allies Parties at Presidency late Tuesday to discuss the situation, Presidential spokesman said.

Spokesperson Mr. Farhatullah Babar said that the meeting discussed current political situation with particular reference to the most recent developments.

The heads of parliamentary allies parties proposed that the session of the National Assembly be urgently called on January 12 to discuss the latest political issues.

Private Geo TV channels had reported that President Zardari offered resignation during the meeting but said that the allies and the parliament and provincial assemblies had elected him the President.

Before the session of the National Assembly a joint meeting of the parliamentary parties will be also held in the Parliament house to work out the strategy to be adopted during the National Assembly session.

The President had specially come from Karachi for the meeting of the parliamentary allies parties, the spokesperson said.

Official sources said that situation arising out of the Supreme Court’s verdict dominates the Federal Cabinet.

The Supreme Court Tuesday said that action could be taken against Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani for his failure to implement a court ruling to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.

The Supreme Court had struck down an amnesty law two years ago that benefited President Zardari and hundreds of politicians and government officials.

The National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) had been introduced by former President Pervez Musharraf after a deal with slain Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007.

A five-member bench of the Supreme Court said in its order that Gilani was not an “honourable man” as he had not followed his constitutional oath. The verdict said that the Prime Minister had shown loyalty to his political party rather than the Constitution.

“Prima facie, the Prime Minister is not an honest man and violated his oath,” the bench said in its order. The bench observed that the Pakistan People’s Party-led government’s refusal to write a letter to Swiss authorities to reopen cases of alleged money laundering against Zardari went against the Constitution.

The government has refused to act on the court’s orders, saying the President enjoys immunity from prosecution under the Constitution.

During an interview last week, Zardari made it clear that the government would not approach the Swiss authorities as long as he was in office.

The confrontation between the PPP and the judiciary over the NRO comes at a time when the Supreme Court is pressuring the government over an alleged memo that had sought US help to stave off a feared military coup in Pakistan last year. Despite the government’s objections, the court formed a judicial commission to investigate the Memogate scandal.

**1412
Islamic Republic News Agency/IRNA NewsCode: 30760731