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08 August 2012| last updated at 03:05PM

Pakistan court summons PM to appear over contempt



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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s top court on Wednesday summoned the new prime minister to appear later this month to face possible contempt charges, the clearest sign yet it could dismiss a second premier in a showdown over corruption cases.

 

The Supreme Court — which disqualified and convicted prime minister Yousuf  Raza Gilani over the issue — summoned his successor Raja Pervez Ashraf on  August 27 for ignoring a request to ask Swiss authorities to reopen cases  against the president.
 
It is the latest episode in a two-and-a-half-year saga in which the  government has resisted demands to have Asif Ali Zardari investigated, arguing  that as head of state he enjoys immunity.
 
The government is due to become the first in Pakistan’s history to complete  an elected, full five-year mandate in February 2013, but the showdown could  force polls before then.
 
The court had given Ashraf until August 8 to write to Switzerland and last  week struck down a new law passed by parliament that sought to exempt members  of the government from contempt trials, clearing the way for legal proceedings  against the premier.
 
Judge Asif Saeed Khosa said Ashraf had been given notice “under (the)  contempt of court act 2003, read with article 204 of the constitution to show  cause as to why he may not be proceeded (against) in contempt of court by not  complying (with the) relevant direction of the court”.
 
“He shall appear in person at the next date of hearing. Hearing adjourned  until August 27,” Khosa added.
 
Critics of the judiciary and members of Zardari’s main ruling Pakistan  People’s Party accuse the court of over stepping its reach and waging a  personal vendetta against the president.
 
The allegations against Zardari date back to the 1990s, when he and his  wife, late premier Benazir Bhutto, were suspected of using Swiss bank accounts  to launder $12 million allegedly paid in bribes by companies seeking customs  inspection contracts.
 
The Swiss shelved the cases in 2008 when Zardari became president and the  government insists the president has full immunity as head of state.
 
But in 2009 the Supreme Court overturned a political amnesty that had  frozen investigations into the president and other politicians, ordering that  the cases be reopened.
 
Zardari had already signed the contempt law, which sought to exempt  government figures, including the president, prime minister and cabinet  ministers from contempt for acts performed as part of their job. -- AFP
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