Pakistan Parliament Speaker Rules PM Gilani Can’t Be Disqualified

Islamabad, May 26, IRNA - Pakistan Parliament's Speaker has ruled that Prime Minister, Yusuf Raza Gilani, cannot be disqualified in the wake of his last month’s conviction for contempt of court after he refused to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari. A seven-member bench of the Supreme Court convicted Gilani of contempt on April 26, for refusing to write a letter to Swiss authorities in order to reopen money laundering cases against President Zardari. The Assistant Registrar of the Supreme Court had sent a letter to the Speaker, asking her to forward a reference against PM Gilani to the Election Commission in accordance with the apex court’s verdict. Legal experts were of the view that the Speaker office was bound to work as a post office. The Speaker Fahmida Mirza rejected a letter from the Supreme Court’s registrar for sending reference against the Prime Minister to the Election Commission. “I am of the view that the charges against Gilani are not relatable to the grounds mentioned in the constitution, therefore, no question of disqualification of Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani from being a member arises,” the Speaker National Assembly said in her ruling. In a five-page ruling, Mirza, who belongs to the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party, said that the question of Gilani's disqualification did not arise in light of the apex court's verdict against the Premier. Mirza raised objections to the manner in which the apex court's assistant registrar had conveyed the verdict against Gilani to the National Assembly and sought action against the Premier. The ruling said the contents of the letter sent by the apex court's official were in 'bad taste' and went 'against Parliamentary norms and traditions.' The Speaker cited several precedents and court rulings to support her decision not to refer the matter to the Election Commission. The opposition angrily reacted to the speaker’s decision criticizing Mirza as "becoming a part of the group which is bent upon disobeying the Supreme Court’s verdict against Prime Minister Gilani. "We think that the NA Speaker has used her position wrongly and has done injustice,” Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, said referring to Mirza’s decision on prime minister’s disqualification. Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Nisar maintained that Gilani was convicted by a bench of the highest court in the country, and thus stood disqualified./end