ISLAMABAD– After its failure to secure undiluted support of Parliament against the superior judiciary, Pakistan People’s Party leadership has started looking for other options to resolve standoff with the apex court in NRO implementation case and it is learnt that the PPP is seriously considering writing to Swiss authorities for reopening of cases against President Zardari.
A seven-member larger bench of the Supreme Court is set to resume hearing of the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) implementation case today (Monday). The Attorney General of Pakistan Maulvi Anwarul Haq will present the government’s viewpoint on the six options given by the Supreme Court. According to sources, the attorney general will seek more time from the court regarding the NRO implementation case.
Law secretary and National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman will also appear before the court. The apex court has been building pressure on the government since it struck down the NRO, which benefited President Zardari and 8,000 others, in 2009. Sources in the party informed that PPP was readjusting its strategy after its failure to convince even all its coalition partners  including MQM, PML-Q and ANP  to stand by it in the ongoing tussle with Supreme Court. And it was the pressure from the coalition partners that the language of the resolution seeking support of the parliament for government was toned down while the smaller groups sitting on opposition benches in the national assembly had also refused to support government in what looked an imminent clash with judiciary.
Sources said that PPP leadership was seeking legal opinion on the implications of writing letter to Swiss authorities for reopening of the alleged corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari. Party sources informed that President Zardari was consulting party’s legal wizards and he would then decide the future course to deal with the matter.
The option of claiming presidential immunity in the Supreme Court was also discussed in the party meetings held over past few days and now the government would decide between the writing to Swiss authorities or seeking presidential immunity in the Supreme Court, but it was decided that government would not enter into a clash with the superior judiciary at any cost.
Senior lawyers and constitutional experts in the party are of the view that there would be no harm in writing letter to Swiss authorities as the president also enjoys immunity under the Geneva Convention. So the Swiss authorities could not reopen the cases against him even if the Government of Pakistan writes to them for the same.
There is a strong view in the party that government must avoid clash with judiciary at a time when the mistrust between PPP and the armed forces is also at its zenith. Majority of the PPP core committee members are also of the view that government should avoid confrontation and write to Swiss authorities. The coalition partners of the government also advised the PPP that it must not tread the collision course as things were not in favour of the government and the clash could turn out to be fatal for the incumbent political dispensation.
Sources in the party said that the developments over the past couple of weeks have drastically reduced the options for the government and the clash with judiciary could cause the prime minister to lose his post in case of contempt proceedings against him.
On the other hand, the fate of embattled President Zardari could too be decided today when the Supreme Court takes up the memo scandal even as the beleaguered government has turned to parliament for crucial support.
The national assembly is expected to vote today on a resolution that seeks endorsement and support for “efforts made by the political leadership for strengthening democracy” and calls for reposing “full confidence and trust” in them.
Even as parliament considers the resolution, a seven-member bench of the apex court will resume hearing of a case related to the re-opening of corruption cases that were closed under the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), a graft amnesty issued by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf in 2007.
The SC had warned last week that Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani could be disqualified and that action could also be taken against President Zardari if the government kept defying its orders on the NRO issue. The court had said that Gilani “may not be an honest person on account of his not being honest to the oath of his office”. It further warned that the President could face the “same consequences” for violating his oath of office.
Amidst the pressure from the judiciary, the government has been engaged in a bruising confrontation with the powerful military over the memo scandal. The apex court accepted Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani’s request for an independent probe into the matter while rejecting the government’s contention that the issue should be investigated by a parliamentary panel.
Tensions between the government and the military reached a peak last week after the prime minister said the army and Intelligence chiefs had acted in an “unconstitutional and illegal” manner by filing affidavits on the memo issue in the Supreme Court without getting the government’s approval.
The military reacted within days through a strongly worded statement that said the Premier’s remarks could have “grievous consequences”.
Mr Gilani retaliated by sacking defence secretary Lt-Gen. (r) Khalid Naeem Lodhi, a confidant of Kayani. The Premier charged the former general with “gross misconduct” and creating misunderstandings between the government and the military.
Amid the government-military stand-off, Gilani the other day appeared to reach out to the powerful army but Gen Kayani is reported to have adopted a tough stance and wants withdrawal of the Prime Minister’s statements critical of the military. Mr Gilani said that all state institutions will be allowed to play their role.
The apex court has been building pressure on the government since it struck down the NRO, which benefited President Zardari and 8,000 others, in 2009.
It has pressured the government to write to Swiss authorities to re-open cases of alleged money laundering against President Zardari but the government has refused to do so, saying the President enjoys immunity under the constitution.
Mr Zardari himself has said that the government will not approach the Swiss authorities as long as he is in office as such a move would be tantamount to putting on trial the grave of his wife, former Premier Benazir Bhutto, who too had benefited from the NRO.