Faheem Amir


Pakistan has become a place where many important, troubling and tragic things are happening every day. Karachi and Balochistan are bleeding continuously. Sectarian killings have started again. The Lahore bomb blast has broken the lull in violence in Punjab. The entire nation is in despair after the Bhoja airline crash and the Siachen tragedy.

There is no end to the prolonged load shedding and energy shortfall. The people are launching protests against unemployment, soaring prices, non-payment of salaries and the poor law and order situation throughout the country. In these testing times, the Supreme Court's verdict, on April 27, against PM Gilani has triggered turmoil in Pakistan.

The Supreme Court has made history by convicting the PM, for the first time in Pakistani history, in a contempt of court case. A seven-member bench, headed by Justice Nasirul Mulk, also ordered the prime minister's imprisonment until the rising of the court, which lasted 32 seconds. The court passed two orders, one in which the prime minister was convicted and the other regarding release from the sentence.

"The respondent (PM) appeared in person along with his counsel. The order was passed in the open court. After that, the convict remained in the custody of the court till his release upon rising of the court," the order said.
"For the reasons to be recorded later, the accused, Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, Prime Minister of Pakistan and chief executive of the federation, is found guilty and convicted for contempt of court under Article 204(2) of the constitution read with Section 3 of the Contempt of Court Ordinance 2003, for willful flouting, disregard and disobedience of this court's direction contained in paragraph 178 of the NRO judgement, after our satisfaction that the contempt committed by him is substantially detrimental to the administration of justice and tends to bring this court and the judiciary of this country into ridicule," Justice Nasirul Mulk said.

The order further says, "The conviction for contempt of court ... are likely to entail some serious consequences in terms of Article 63(1)(g) of the constitution, which may be treated as mitigating factors towards the sentence to be passed against him (PM)." Article 63(1)(g) says, "A person shall be disqualified from being elected or chosen as, and from being, a member of the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament), if .... he defames or brings into ridicule the judiciary or the Armed Forces of Pakistan, unless a period of five years has elapsed since his release.

"As regards the sentence to be passed against the convict, we note that the findings and the conviction for contempt of court recorded above are likely to entail some serious consequences in terms of Article 63(1)(g) of the constitution which may be treated as mitigating factors towards the sentence to be passed against him. He is, therefore, punished under Article 5 of the contempt of court ordinance (ordinance 5 of 2003) with imprisonment till the rising of the court today," the court said in its order.

After the bench had announced its decision, Aitzaz requested it to give him some time to give his submissions but the court ignored his request. Aitzaz said, "The court has gone beyond the scope of charges framed against the PM on February 13." He claimed the prime minister has been convicted of allegedly scandalising the court.

With this conviction, Pakistan has plunged into a new political crisis, as a debate about the eligibility of Gilani as prime minister has started in the country.

Some political leaders, thinkers, lawyers and constitution experts are of the view that PM Gilani should step down immediately after this conviction.
The Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N)'s leader Nawaz Sharif said that Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani should step down after being convicted by the Supreme Court (SC).

Talking to a TV channel, Nawaz said that the premier should resign from his office and pave the way for a new PM. "In light of the (SC) verdict, I think PM Gilani should resign immediately rather than prolonging the issue." The former PM said that his party would no longer accept him as the PM and the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) should introduce a non-controversial caretaker PM. He suggested that the government should hold elections immediately and appoint a neutral PM who would write the letter to the Swiss authorities. "If the government is willing, the PML-N would support a caretaker set up for the federal and provincial governments."

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)'s Chairman Imran Khan said, "Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani should step down immediately. If he will not obey the law, why will anyone else in the country?" He said it was a historic day for the courts when they had indicted a powerful person. It was the first time that the rulers of the country had been brought to justice, he said, adding that the ruling elites had joined together to defy the law. He warned that his party would march towards Islamabad if the government defied the Supreme Court verdict regarding the prime minister's conviction.

While Law and Justice Minister Farooq H Naek told the National Assembly that Yousaf Raza Gilani is still the prime minister and will remain so, as the Supreme Court had not disqualified him. "Prime Minister has not been disqualified. He is the prime minister and will remain the prime minister," Naek commented concluding his speech in the House.

On April 27, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said nobody could remove him from his office except the Speaker. Addressing the National Assembly, he said, "Am I not an elected Prime Minister? Do I not represent 180 million people of Pakistan? Nobody can remove me from the office of Prime Minister except you Madam Speaker.

"If the Parliament denotifies me, I will be honoured. This is up to the custodian of the House," Gilani said.

Taking on the key opposition party PML-N, its leadership and Leader of the Opposition Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, the Prime Minister said, "They cannot act like God. We have majority in both the Houses of the Parliament. They (Nawaz, Shahbaz and Nisar) should respect others. I challenge them if they have courage, they should move a no confidence motion against me," Gilani asserted.

The United States also said it continues to work with Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and believes he remains leader of the Pakistani democratic government.

"There was a court decision, he was given a 30 second sentence, I believe, and he remains the prime minister of Pakistan... And, as such, we continue to work with him and Ambassador Grossman did meet with him in Pakistan," State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said

In response to Gilani's statements, Nawaz Sharif urged Yousaf Raza Gilani to immediately step down as prime minister, otherwise, he would face 'unexpected results'. Nawaz Sharif said Gilani had violated his oath by remaining loyal to Zardari instead of the Constitution. "Pakistan is running without a prime minister since Thursday morning," he said and added that all the decisions and acts of the prime minister and the federal cabinet were illegal and unconstitutional. The former prime minister said that his party had many options to get its demands fulfilled, adding that the N-league would protest in and outside the Parliament.

The PTI leader Imran Khan said on Twitter: "After SC judgment PM has lost whatever shred of legal and moral authority he had. He must resign immed."
"Who will follow court orders if the government doesn't?" says Mehmood-ul-Hassan, president of the Karachi Bar Association. "What kind of a message are we sending internationally - that we have a convicted PM holding office?"

Talking to the Independent, Raza Rumi, an analyst, said: "It is unlikely the PM will step down until the appeal is settled. The court has not disqualified him, which involves a legal procedure, and it may take up to four months to complete. However, there is increased pressure from media and the opposition for him to step down. Pakistan's political uncertainty will hamper its foreign policy and more importantly the economy."

BBC News writes about the verdict: "Many believe that through its order on Thursday, the court has tried to put an end to an increasingly difficult situation and has left the matter of Gilani's disqualification to others, whoever they might be - the parliament, the media, the political opposition".
Some thinkers and newspapers say that this verdict has made the judiciary controversial.

Daily Times writes in its editorial: "Instead, ever since the restoration of the judiciary in 2009, the latter's assertion of 'independence' and 'judicial activism' has more often than not led it into controversy, a divisive factor in legal and public circles. However the present case of the contempt conviction of the PM turns out, perhaps the verdict has opened the floodgates of making the judiciary more controversial than ever in our history and diluting the universal respect that should be its due".

The PPP and its allied parties have already launched protests against the court's verdict through out the country on April 28. The PPP' supporters could be incited in coming days by their leaders.

The aforementioned developments categorically say that PM Yousaf's conviction has triggered turmoil in the country, which is already struggling with major economic and security challenges amid tense US-Pak relations. A two-year-long tug-of-war between the judiciary and Pakistan People's Party-led government has not yet ended with this conviction. A fierce battle between the PPP, the judiciary and opposition parties is expected in the near future, which will add to the miseries of the common people and push Pakistan rapidly towards chaos.

-Cutting