President asks PM to stand tall, face challenges

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Monday decided to face the contempt notice issued by the Supreme Court with grace but with steadfastness and resolve that the government, with all respect to the court, would not move from its stated stance on the immunity to the president under Article 248 of the constitution.
A source in the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) told Pakistan Today that the prime minister offered the president his resignation during a meeting of coalition partners, which Zardari rejected. “The president told the premier that this was time to stand tall and that resignation was not an option. He told Gilani to follow his predecessors as was the case with former prime ministers of the PPP – Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto – who laid down their lives but did not give in to tyrants,” the source said. The meeting decided that the prime minister would appear in court on January 19 and heads of all the coalition parties would accompany him to send a strong message to the judiciary that “political forces stood by the premier”.
Later, the heads of coalition parties also deliberated upon the strategy chalked out by the president and the prime minister, with Awami National Party (ANP) chief Asfandyar Wali Khan assuring full backing to the PPP. President Zardari also arrived at the meeting without due protocol and discussed the present political situation with the leaders of coalition partners. A source said the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) voiced concerns against a head-on collision with the army or the judiciary.

“After a fiery speech by the president, Senior Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi cautioned against adopting a strong stance against the judiciary or against the armed forces. He told the coalition partners that the army was not against the democratic process and all fears about the army backing the judiciary were false,” the source added.
The source said following Elahi’s speech, the MQM’s Dr Farooq Sattar also toed the same line and advised the coalition partners not to take a strong stance against any state institution in public, whether it was the army or the judiciary. The leaders of the coalition partners also decided that the prime minister should appear in the Supreme Court. President Zardari said there was no clash between the institutions and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) always gave respect and honour to all the institutions, especially the courts. However, he said some conspirators wanted a collision between the state institutions which would not be allowed. He advised the prime minister to appear in court and that the allies should accompany him. He also said relations were normalising with the armed forces.
“We have faced courts in the past and are ready to do the same again. Dialogue is the way forward for us and we have sent home dictators through dialogue,” the president added. He said parliament was supreme and his party was fighting for its sake.
Prime Minister Gilani told the meeting the government respected and honoured all institutions, including the Supreme Court. He said the government did not want confrontation with any institution, including the judiciary.
Presenting the parliamentary history on this occasion, the prime minister said that in the past, prime ministers were imposed on parliament but now it had become independent to elect its own leader of the House.
The present democratic system had been strengthening its roots and proving that it was strong enough, and under this system problems of the people were being resolved, he added.
He said the government initiated a policy of reconciliation and taking along all the political forces on all the issues, whether related to security or political activities. Gilani said the government had full respect and honour for the courts and always accepted their decisions. He said the PPP respected the institutions and believed in the independence of the judiciary.
The Prime Minister said the affairs of government were being run smoothly in collaboration with the allied parties through mutual consultation.
Asfandyar Wali assured his full support and strength to the prime minister in dealing with all the matters, especially the issue of the contempt notice.
The meeting was attended by Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, Asfandyar Wali Khan, Dr Farooq Sattar, Munir Khan Orakzai, Mir Israrullah Zehri and other leaders of the political parties in the coalition.
Later, a meeting of the PPP Core Committee also met later to discuss the issue at the Presidency, which was jointly chaired by President Zardari and Prime Minister Gilani. Briefing reporters about the meeting, Presidential Spokesman Farhatullah Babar said the meeting reviewed in depth the current situation and discussed ways and means to overcome the challenges faced by the party and the government.The meeting said the party would stand behind the prime minister in adopting a stance that was correct, respectful and constitutional. The meeting also appreciated the support extended to the leaders of the government and the party by all coalition partners and thanked them for it.