Islamabad: The Supreme Court’s decision to indict Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani for contempt could exacerbate the standoff between the government and the judiciary and it is in the interest of both sides to settle the matter speedily, the Pakistani media said on Tuesday.
Gilani was formally charged with contempt of court on Monday for disobeying the apex court’s orders to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari in Switzerland and his trial is set to begin on February 28. The premier pleaded not guilty and said he would contest the charges but opposition parties have called on him to resign. The first-ever indictment of a serving premier for contempt dominated Pakistani dailies on Tuesday.
“SC orders Pak PM’s trial”, read the banner headline on the front page of The News while the Daily Times headlined its report “The countdown begins”.
The news reports gave a blow-by-blow account of Gilani’s second appearance in the apex court. In its editorial “PM charged”, the influential Dawn newspaper said: “A sitting prime minister has been charged with contempt of court, effectively pitting the people’s court against the judiciary.”
Though both sides have been trying to avoid the perception that it is targeting the other, “this relative civility could not have averted the impasse they have reached by sticking to their guns”, it said.
The apex court has been pressuring the Pakistan People’s Party-led government to reopen the cases against Zardari since December 2009, when it struck down a graft amnesty issued by former dictator Pervez Musharraf.
The government has refused to act, saying the President enjoys complete immunity in Pakistan and abroad.
The Dawn further said: “If either party backs down after such dogged resistance it will risk the perception that it pointlessly dragged the country through another political drama. But given the upheaval that could result from the PM’s conviction, that risk is worth it.”
The court “could consider a lengthy adjournment” and the government could still ask Swiss authorities to reopen the case and “put the issue to bed, at least for the time being”. Either option could lead to “early or on-schedule general elections” with the chief executive intact.
The conviction of a sitting PM would “weaken democratic institutions in a country where these finally have the chance to demonstrate staying power”, the Dawn cautioned.
The Pakistan On Tuesday, in its editorial “Charges framed”, noted that the premier’s indictment had led to “interesting times” and said: “Exciting as they may be to the media and the chattering classes, they bring no relief to the teeming millions.
This is an incompetent government – like the one before it, and the one before that.” The government’s capacity “to govern has to be exercised” or else it would constantly be watching over its back “for unelected players, who have never quite warmed up to this whole will-of-the-people thing, to use something, anything as an excuse to pack things up”, the editorial cautioned.
The News daily said the “right thing would be for the chief executive to set an example of submitting to the rule of law regardless of the adverse political and personal costs involved”. In its editorial ‘The Indictment’, the newspaper said the case in the apex court was no longer about Zardari’s immunity or Gilani’s unflinching loyalty towards him. It argued that this was “a defining moment in Pakistan’s politico-judicial history, one that cannot be sacrificed at the altar of selfish leadership”.
It added: “If the verdict of the country’s top court is blatantly violated by the country’s top elected leaders, we can call this a dark moment not only for one man’s political fortunes but for democracy itself.”
However, the Daily Times, in its editorial “Hubbub over indictment”, said Gilani’s indictment was being projected “by many as if the final verdict has been declared against him”.
The PPP could still use the “card of presidential pardon” if the premier is convicted or appoint a replacement. (PTI)