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Thursday, June 11, 2009
By Rauf Klasra
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilanis decision not to get the cases against him laundered through the National Reconciliation Order (NRO) has turned out to be a wise and pragmatic move.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhrys recent bombshell about the legality of the NRO created ripples among those ruling partys politicians who had got clean chits from the courts under the NRO. If the Supreme Court strikes down this law, the prime minister would be among the few top guns of the PPP government who would not be affected by this development.
Certain top leaders of PPP might suddenly land in trouble in case the Supreme Court strikes down the NRO and criminal cases against them are revived. Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had also not benefited from this law, which was framed in the name of a grand reconciliation of politicians.
The reconciliation process was initiated by General Musharraf after he found himself politically isolated at the end of his eight-year rule. The Sharif brothers were clearly not in a position to accept a deal under the NRO even if it been offered to them, simply because of the negative political fallout.
Apart from others, the MQM and the top PPP political leadership were the main beneficiaries of the controversial law which was framed as a result of a deal between Benazir Bhutto and General Pervez Musharraf in November 2007 - thanks to pressure from the Americans.
A total of about 25,000 FIRs registered against workers of the MQM were said to have been scrapped under this law. MQM leaders have always disputed this huge figure, and put the number at 5,000 to 10,000. The MQM also claimed that their workers were wrongly implicated in criminal cases of ransom, murder, gunrunning and more but their opponents never accepted this claim.
Many eyebrows were raised when, much to the shock of senior PPP leaders, Prime Minister Gilani told his lawyers not to move the courts to seek the scrapping of cases against him framed by the National Accountably Bureau (NAB).
Gilani was sentenced to seven years in prison on trumped-up charges of misusing his official authority as the speaker National Assembly from 1993-1996. Gilani preferred to take the route of the civil courts instead of moving just one simple application in the courts to get a clean chit, as was done by his fellow party bigwigs. Gilani was of the view that such a move would send a wrong signal to the people and open the prime minister to the charge that he too had evaded the normal course of justice and opted for convenience.
Sources close to Gilani claimed that, as a wise politician, he had realised that this law might land the leaders in big in the future. Gilanis fears proved correct when the law was challenged in the Supreme Court. Gilanis apprehensions turned out even more prophetic when last week, out of the blue, the CJ remarked that no one could be given relief under the NRO as the law was yet to be validated by the courts.
These fears and the considerations for the future led Gilani to continue to fight his cases in the Lahore High Court, Rawalpindi bench, and finally he was acquitted honourably from the charges on which he was kept in jail for more than five years.
Interestingly, Gilani did not seek revenge from even the NAB judge who under pressure of Musharrafs accountability bureau had sent him to jail. Instead, Gilani granted an extension to the judge when his contract expired. Although many people had objected to his generosity, as they were of the view that if such a judge was being given an extension, he would continue to send people to jail on the pressure of the authorities, as was done in Gilanis case during the Musharraf regime.
But Gilani gave the judge an extension so that no one could accuse him of taking revenge from someone who had sent him to jail. Talking to The News informally, Prime Minister Gilani had once commented that he was grateful to this NAB judge as he believed that had he not sent him to jail for seven years, he might not have been the prime minister of Pakistan today.
Why Gilani ignored NRO for his cases?
By Rauf Klasra
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilanis decision not to get the cases against him laundered through the National Reconciliation Order (NRO) has turned out to be a wise and pragmatic move.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhrys recent bombshell about the legality of the NRO created ripples among those ruling partys politicians who had got clean chits from the courts under the NRO. If the Supreme Court strikes down this law, the prime minister would be among the few top guns of the PPP government who would not be affected by this development.
Certain top leaders of PPP might suddenly land in trouble in case the Supreme Court strikes down the NRO and criminal cases against them are revived. Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had also not benefited from this law, which was framed in the name of a grand reconciliation of politicians.
The reconciliation process was initiated by General Musharraf after he found himself politically isolated at the end of his eight-year rule. The Sharif brothers were clearly not in a position to accept a deal under the NRO even if it been offered to them, simply because of the negative political fallout.
Apart from others, the MQM and the top PPP political leadership were the main beneficiaries of the controversial law which was framed as a result of a deal between Benazir Bhutto and General Pervez Musharraf in November 2007 - thanks to pressure from the Americans.
A total of about 25,000 FIRs registered against workers of the MQM were said to have been scrapped under this law. MQM leaders have always disputed this huge figure, and put the number at 5,000 to 10,000. The MQM also claimed that their workers were wrongly implicated in criminal cases of ransom, murder, gunrunning and more but their opponents never accepted this claim.
Many eyebrows were raised when, much to the shock of senior PPP leaders, Prime Minister Gilani told his lawyers not to move the courts to seek the scrapping of cases against him framed by the National Accountably Bureau (NAB).
Gilani was sentenced to seven years in prison on trumped-up charges of misusing his official authority as the speaker National Assembly from 1993-1996. Gilani preferred to take the route of the civil courts instead of moving just one simple application in the courts to get a clean chit, as was done by his fellow party bigwigs. Gilani was of the view that such a move would send a wrong signal to the people and open the prime minister to the charge that he too had evaded the normal course of justice and opted for convenience.
Sources close to Gilani claimed that, as a wise politician, he had realised that this law might land the leaders in big in the future. Gilanis fears proved correct when the law was challenged in the Supreme Court. Gilanis apprehensions turned out even more prophetic when last week, out of the blue, the CJ remarked that no one could be given relief under the NRO as the law was yet to be validated by the courts.
These fears and the considerations for the future led Gilani to continue to fight his cases in the Lahore High Court, Rawalpindi bench, and finally he was acquitted honourably from the charges on which he was kept in jail for more than five years.
Interestingly, Gilani did not seek revenge from even the NAB judge who under pressure of Musharrafs accountability bureau had sent him to jail. Instead, Gilani granted an extension to the judge when his contract expired. Although many people had objected to his generosity, as they were of the view that if such a judge was being given an extension, he would continue to send people to jail on the pressure of the authorities, as was done in Gilanis case during the Musharraf regime.
But Gilani gave the judge an extension so that no one could accuse him of taking revenge from someone who had sent him to jail. Talking to The News informally, Prime Minister Gilani had once commented that he was grateful to this NAB judge as he believed that had he not sent him to jail for seven years, he might not have been the prime minister of Pakistan today.
Why Gilani ignored NRO for his cases?
