A full bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) said on Thursday that President Asif Ali Zardari should “disassociate” himself from the political office of the co-chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) as soon as possible, and to stop using President’s House for partisan political activities of his party to maintain the dignity and impartiality of the office of the president of Pakistan.
The bench, headed by LHC Chief Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry, stated that Zardari should carry out his duties and functions as president with a sense of complete neutrality, impartiality and aloofness from any partisan political interests, as he was a symbol of the unity of Pakistan.
In a detailed judgement, the bench noted that “the use of the premises of the Presidency for partisan political activity is inconsistent with the sanctity, dignity, neutrality and independence of the office” of the president. The order came after proceedings on several constitutional petitions against the dual offices of Zardari, filed in mid-2009 by AK Dogar of the Pakistan Lawyers Forum (PLF), Engineer Ghulam Jillani and Asif Mehmood Khan, disputing the political role of the president in the existing parliamentary system in the country.
Dogar contended that President Zardari was continuously holding the two offices in violation of Article 41(1) of the constitution, and that President’s House had become a centre for the PPP’s meetings. The judgement, though written in a mild tone by the judges, was opposed harshly by the PPP’s lawyers, saying the government would file an appeal against the order. Neutral lawyers found the judgement to be neither binding nor authoritative, and said it was a “mere suggestion-like” order, which would never be implemented or taken seriously by the government or presidency.
The order bears clear signs of respect from the judges to the dignity of the office of the president, and could well be because of the immunity available to the president regarding certain legal proceedings. The order is more of a request to the president that he is expected to respect the constitution and stay in the symbolic domain in the federation. “Here again it is expected that the President of Pakistan would cease the use of the premises of the Presidency for the purposes and political meetings of his party,” the order said.
The LHC bench based its judgement on principles laid down by a SC verdict in a similar case against PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif in 1993, in which the late Farooq Leghari, who was the president at the time, was asked by the apex court to resign from his party office immediately. The bench stated that the petitioner could not be allowed to demand that the president be disqualified from holding his office, adding that this was clearly not a case for disqualification of the president, but a violation of the constitution that had to be corrected.
"Jayalay" people will still support Zardari no matter what. He may have dishonoured the legacy of Zulfiqar Bhutto, he also may have been the murderer of Benazir Bhutto, but he can still be President of Pakistan and Co-chairmain of PPP
Though very late judgment yeyt paid of to the efforts of one anonymous person,I hear seldom heard from abroad persistently focusing .Thank you,Your honors and Mr Dogar.But MR Zarrdari must be penalized for deliberately violating constitution and terminated or impeached.Why should he be condoned?
Though very late judgment yeyt paid of to the efforts of one anonymous person,I hear seldom heard from abroad persistently focusing .Thank ****Your honors and Mr Dogar.But MR Zarrdari must be penalized for deliberately violating constitution and terminated or impeached.Why should he be condoned?
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