Print
    20 June 2012| last updated at 09:45PM

    Pakistan lawmakers to elect new PM Friday



    0 comments

    ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s parliament will convene to elect a new prime minister on Friday, signalling a swift resolution of the political crisis sparked by the Supreme Court dismissing Yousuf Raza Gilani.

     

    President Asif Ali Zardari was locked in crisis talks with allies to select  a consensus candidate and ultra-loyalist to take on the premiership after the  court dumped Gilani on Tuesday.
     
    But the presidency announced Wednesday that Zardari had summoned the lower  house of parliament to meet at 5:30 pm (1230 GMT) on Friday.
     
    The nuclear-armed country — facing a Taliban insurgency and subject to US  wrath over havens for Al-Qaeda-linked militants fighting the Americans in  Afghanistan — has been plunged into political chaos by the court ruling.
     
    Gilani, who became prime minister following the Pakistan People’s Party  (PPP) election win in 2008, was dismissed after being convicted of contempt for  refusing to ask Swiss authorities to reopen corruption cases against Zardari.
     
    He moved out of the prime minister’s house, as Zardari led intense horse  trading in order to set up a new executive and stave off early general  elections.
     
    Zardari chaired talks overnight with coalition leaders and met PPP MPs  later Wednesday, with officials saying he hoped to finalise the nomination.
     
    Textiles minister Makhdoom Shahabuddin and Ahmed Mukhtar, minister for  water and power, are believed to be the two strongest candidates.
     
    The national assembly said nominations had to be submitted on Thursday.
     
    “The voting shall be recorded in accordance with the procedure... on June  22 at 5.30 pm,” its secretariat said in a statement.
     
    Gilani’s lawyer and PPP member Aitzaz Ahsan said the new prime minister  would be “a nice person and loyal to the party”.
     
    The new premier will immediately face court demands to write to the Swiss,  so analysts say Zardari will only countenance a loyalist and someone from  Punjab province who can complement his own power base in the south.
     
    Washington, which has a troubled anti-terror alliance with Islamabad, has  called on Pakistan to resolve the crisis in accordance with the constitution.
     
    The turmoil is unlikely to hasten a deal on ending Pakistan’s seven-month  blockade on NATO supplies into Afghanistan, which has infuriated NATO and  forced the US to use more expensive routes through central Asia.
     
    In Pakistan, there has been criticism of the judges’ interference but other  analysts pointed out the change of prime minister will have little tangible  effect on policy or the longevity of the government.
     
    The News urged Zardari to act quickly to find a cabinet capable of dealing  with the huge problems facing ordinary Pakistanis — crushing power cuts,  rioting, violence, inflation and insecurity.
     
    Gilani’s disqualification was the culmination of a showdown between the  judiciary led by a popular chief justice, and a weak, ineffective government  that critics say has been politicised at best, or vendetta-driven at worst.
     
    Zardari prevaricated for months on restoring the independent judiciary  after the PPP won general elections in February 2008, only doing so in March  2009 to stave off a threatened opposition march on Islamabad.
     
    In December 2009, the Supreme Court annulled a controversial amnesty that  had allowed Zardari and his late wife, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto,  back into politics in exchange for a moratorium on corruption cases.
     
    But the government refused to request the Swiss reopen investigations. The  court’s patience ran out and on April 26 it convicted Gilani of contempt.
     
    Gilani always insisted Zardari had immunity as head of state and that  writing to the Swiss would be a violation of Pakistan’s constitution.
     
    PPP supporters accuse the court, in collusion with the army and the  opposition, of trying to bring down Zardari before February 2013, when the  administration would become the first in Pakistan to complete a full five-year  term.
     
    The cases against Zardari date to the 1990s, when he and his late wife are  suspected of using Swiss banks to launder $12 million allegedly paid in bribes  by companies seeking customs contracts.
     
    The Swiss shelved the cases in 2008 when Zardari became president. -- AFP

    Leave Your Comment


    Leave Your Comment:

    New Straits Times reserves the right not to publish offensive or abusive comments and those of hate speech, harassment, commercial promos and invasion of privacy. Your IP will be logged and may be used to prevent further submission.The views expressed here are that of the members of the public and unless specifically stated are not those of NST.