Pakistan's Opposition Party To Launch Anti-gov’t Drive

Islamabad, May 1, IRNA – Main opposition party in Pakistan has announced anti-government movement if Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani refused to resign after his court’s conviction in a contempt of court case. The Supreme Court on Thursday found Prime Minister Gilani of contempt of court and gave him a symbolic sentence of less than a minute in the courtroom for failing to reopen corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari despite several court orders. All graft cases against Zardari and thousands of others had been withdrawn under an amnesty law enacted in 2007 by former president Pervez Musaharraf but the court annulled the law in 2009 and ordered reopening of cases. Prime Minister Gilani refused to reopen cases against Zardari, saying he enjoyed immunity as head of state. Opposition leader and former PM Nawaz Sharif announced launch of anti-government movement this week across the country to force the premier to resign. He said the opposition lawmakers will stage protest in the parliament and would take out procession to mount pressure on the PM to quit. Hours before opposition’s warning, Prime Minister Gilani again rejected the opposition’s call for his resignation and said that he would not step down unless the parliamentary speaker unseat him. Gilani told a function in Islamabad that his conviction in the contempt case is not related to disqualification. He also asked the opposition to “show some patience” because he had the right to appeal his conviction in the court. Legal experts say that Gilani has 30 days to appeal against his conviction and the parliamentary speaker has also 30 days to decide whether or not to send a reference to the Election Commission to seek Gilani’s disqualification. The Election Commission has to make decision in three months, legal experts said./end