Pakistan top court challenges PM on corruption cases

ISLAMABAD, (Reuters) – Pakistan’s Supreme Court  today ordered Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani to appear  before the court for failing to pursue corruption cases against  the president and other officials, a sharp escalation in the  government’s battle for survival.
The court threatened the premier with contempt, the latest  blow for the civilian administration which also faces pressure  from the military over a mysterious memo seeking U.S. help to  avert an alleged coup last year.
While Gilani is the one facing a contempt hearing, most  observers say the court’s real target is President Asif Ali  Zardari.
During the 1990s, Zardari had multiple cases of corruption  and even murder lodged against him, all of which he says are  false and politically motivated.
An amnesty deal that protected him from prosecution was  nullified in 2009 and the court has been pushing for the  government to re-open and investigate the corruption cases  against Zardari. The government refuses to do so saying Zardari  enjoys immunity as the head of state.
“We are left with no option, as a first step, to issue a  show cause notice,” s seven-member bench of the Supreme Court  said in its notice on Monday. “The prime minister should appear  personally in court on Jan. 19.”
While Gilani is not considered in immediate danger and the  case is expected to be drawn out, he may have to step down if he  is held in contempt of court.
Concern over Pakistan’s protracted political crisis has  grown around the world, given the country of 180 million people  faces a rampaging Taliban insurgency and has one of the fastest  growing nuclear arsenals.
“We respect the court and its verdict,” said  Farhatullah Babar, the presidential spokesman. “An appropriate  response will be formulated in light of consultation with our  legal brains.”
Gilani would likely appear before the court on Thursday and  then the attorney general would request that he not appear  regularly, which the court would likely agree to, former law  minister Khalid Anwar said.
Any contempt charges would be strongly fought by the  government, dragging proceedings out, he said.
“It’s a lengthy process,” he said. But, he added, “if he is  convicted, he would be disqualified from being a member of the  parliament,” meaning he would no longer be eligible to be a  prime minister.
The tussle with the judiciary is just one battle the  government faces. It is separately embroiled in a dispute with  the military over an unsigned memo sent in the wake of the U.S.  commando raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in a  Pakistani town last year.
The memo, allegedly drafted on the direction of former  ambassador to Washington Husain Haqqani, asked for U.S. help in  reining in the army, which the memo said was planning a coup.
When an American businessman revealed his role in writing  and delivering the memo, the army went incensed. Haqqani was  forced to resign, and “memogate” has locked Zardari and the  military in trench warfare ever since.
“The government has embarked on a confrontational path,”  said security analyst Imtiaz Gul. “They are confronting the  judiciary and if they stick to this path, then obviously this is  full of risks for the government, including the disqualification  of the prime minister.”
Political experts think the government, which is deeply  unpopular and facing elections this year or early next year, is  hoping to be ousted by the courts or the military in a bid to  garner sympathy votes.
“It looks like the prime minister has decided that he is the  one who is going to embrace ‘political martyrdom’ and try to  save the president and the government,” said a lawmaker from a  party allied to the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
Gilani is not the first sitting prime minister to appear  before the court. Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was also  issued a contempt of court notice by then-chief justice, Sajjad  Ali Shah, and he appeared before the court.