Arrest order outstanding for new Pakistani Prime Minister

The government of Pakistan and its Supreme Court just do not get along. The other day the Supreme Court was finally able to remove Prime Minister Yousef Gilani from office for his failure to implement a Supreme Court ruling.




In repsonse to this action, the Pakistani government appointed a new prime minister the former Health and Finance Minister Makhdoom Shahabuddin. However, this appointment is itself problematic.




The ANF Pakistan's anti-drug task force announced that the Supreme Court had approved the arrest of Shahabuddin some while ago earlier this month. Somehow the order to arrest did not get carried out.




. The former health minister is part of a scandal involving the projected export of ephedrine to Iraq. The export orders were fake. Somehow the ephedrine ended up being used for production of illegal drugs in Pakistan. A number of officials have already been arrested but Shahabuddin was the big fish. Perhaps the new prime minister will immediately go on an extended world tour. For more see this article.



UPDATE: The article I used was from antiwar.com. Other sources list a different prime minister. For example here.

""Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, a longtime ally of President Asif Ali Zardari, who faces corruption allegations, was chosen by parliament Friday as Pakistan's prime minister, taking over a government locked in a bitter war with a hostile judiciary and struggling with a tide of daunting economic and security challenges.""

Whichever story is correct both face corruption allegations! I found the Ashraf name at several sources so probably the antiwar.com article made a mistake although no doubt the person discussed faces arrest.

Pakistan Supreme Court turfs out Prime Minister Gilani

The Supreme Court of Pakistan has been carrying on a multi-year battle with the ruling Pakistani People's Party,. The feud started when the Supreme Court ruled that party members did not have legal immunity from crimes committed in the past. The People's Party has continually challenged that ruling.

The Prime Minister Yousef Gilani has simply refused to implement the court ruling! In particular Gilani has refused to cooperate in a corruption case against Pakistani president Asif Zardari. Even after being presented with several ultimatums Gilani simply ignored the requests. Gilani insists that as head of state Zardari is above the law!

Even after the Supreme Court made the ruling aides to Gilani claimed it was meaningless. However the Electoral Commission agreed with the Supreme Court and so Gilani will definitely go. Whoever replaces him will face the same demand that the government cooperate with the corruption investigation into the president. For more see this article.

Pakistan: Supreme Court threatens to oust President Zardari

   The Pakistani judiciary had a long struggle to restore the chief justice. Now conflict between the government and the Supreme Court has again broken out in public. Back in 2009 the court ruled that the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) was unconstitutional.
   This bill would have granted politicians an amnesty to all politicians for crimes committed in office. It should have been called the Get Out of Jail Free bill. The court ruling was certainly one that would force accountability on politicians and serve the interests of justice.
    Most of the present cabinet members faced charges for corruption and other offences. The government chose simply to ignore the Supreme Court ruling. As a result several years later the Supreme Court has spoken out again and threatened to disqualify both the Prime Minister and the President of Pakistan because they have simply refused to follow through on the Supreme Court's decision. This move will no doubt further add to the political instability in Pakistan. For more see this article.
   

Pakistan Supreme Court Threatens to Call in Army!

No doubt the US is scrambling to make contacts with opposition members and within the governing party to prepare for what will happen if Zardari is forced to resign, a situation that seems to be more likely as the days go by. Pakistan US relations seem destined to be unsettled during 2010.





- News From Antiwar.com - http://news.antiwar.com -

Pakistan’s Supreme Court Threatens to Call in Army Over Zardari Immunity

Posted By Jason Ditz

In a move that could greatly up the ante in the clash between the Zardari government and the Pakistani judiciary, A top lawyer of the Pakistani Supreme Court warned that they could call in the army to enforce their rulings in the administration declined to do so.

Last month the Supreme Court declared the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) unconstitutional, stripping several key members of the ruling party of legal immunity from a littany of corruption charges stemming from their roles in the previous administrations.

Though President Zardari hypothetically retains immunity through his office, it has also been argued that Zardari’s election was itself illegal because he would have been unable to run without the NRO in place.

Zardari’s ruling Pakistani Peoples Party (PPP) has unsuccessfully petitioned to have Zardari’s immunity retroactively restored, and the court said they could issue another appeal to the decision.

At the same time, Zardari is said to be under growing pressure to resign, with media outlets reporting that he has been sent “umpteen” messages from government institutions, including the military, which have been working with Prime Minister Yousef Raza Gilani, one of the few top PPP members not currently under charges.