Beleaguered Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani got a breather on Thursday after National Assembly Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza decided that his conviction by the apex court did not fall under the disqualification clause, therefore, she would not send a reference against him to the Election Commission of Pakistan. In a suo motu case, the Supreme Court of Pakistan had convicted Gilani under Section 5 of Contempt of Court Ordinance, 2003 (Ordinance V of 2003) with imprisonment until the rising of the court. In this regard, a short order was issued on April 26, 2012 followed by a detailed judgment released on May 8. According to Article 63(2), the speaker has to decide on the prime minister’s disqualification.
The decision of the speaker attracted severe criticism from opposition parties as Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, the PML-N leader and opposition leader in the National Assembly, took the speaker to task and said she had misused her authority to exonerate the convicted prime minister. “We condemn the speaker’s action. She has not fulfilled her legal responsibility. She has tried to save the convicted prime minister,” he told reporters at a press conference. Fehmida, who is a comrade of Gilani in the PPP, took the decision despite the fact that the apex court of the country had convicted Gilani in the contempt of court case.
Although majority of legal experts had opined that after conviction by the court, the prime minister stood disqualified under clause 63(1) (g), the speaker in her ruling claimed that no question of Gilani’s disqualification arose in the contempt of court case.
“I am of the view that the charges against Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani are not relatable to the grounds mentioned in paragraph (g) or (h) of clause (1) of Article 63, therefore, no question of disqualification of Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani from being a member (of the parliament) arises under clause (2) of Article 63 of the Constitution,” the five-page ruling issued by the National Assembly Secretariat said.
On the other hand, a source in the Election Commission of Pakistan said the commission had contacted officials to attain a copy of the decision of the speaker which would be reviewed in a high-level meeting later in the day. The speaker said it appeared that hat no specific charge regarding the propagation of any opinion or acting in any manner against the independence of the judiciary or defaming or ridiculing the judiciary as contemplated under Article 63 (1) (g) had been framed.
According to the speaker, on April 30, 2012, her office had received a reference under clause (2) of Article 63 by Moulvi Iqbal Haider praying for referring the question of disqualification of Yousaf Raza Gilani from being a member, to the Election Commission. Haider had contended that the prime minister had become disqualified from being a member of the assembly due to his conviction by the Supreme Court of Pakistan under Contempt of Court Law.
The NA speaker expressed serious concern regarding letters through which Short Order and detailed judgment of the Supreme Court were separately conveyed by the assistant registrar writing for the SC Registrar and addressed directly to the speaker. She said the speaker held a constitutional position and was an elected head of the House and guardian of the rights of the 342-member-house of the country, representing the will of the people of Pakistan.
“In view of the above, the office of the speaker demands the highest respect from other organs of the state and functionaries of the government. The contents of the letters are in bad taste and also against the parliamentary norms and traditions,” the speaker remarked in her ruling. The NA speaker said she had gone through the said reference application, the short order and detailed SC judgment and relevant provisions of the constitution and the Contempt of Court Ordinance, 2003.
Regarding the Supreme Court verdict, the speaker said it had not framed any specific charge regarding the propagation of any opinion or acting in any manner against the independence of the judiciary or defaming or ridiculing the judiciary. Mirza also cited a the case of Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, former PML-N MNA and now president of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf, who was convicted by the Islamabad sessions judge in 2004 and was sentenced to imprisonment of 19 years.
After Hashmi filed three separate nomination papers as candidate for ascertainment of the Leader of the House, the government raised objection stating hat he had been disqualified after conviction for propagating and defaming the Armed Forces of Pakistan. However, then NA speaker overruled the objection and accepted the nomination papers of Hashmi and the NA Secretariat made all arrangements for ascertainment of the Leader of the House for August 27, 2004 between two contesting candidates including Shoukat Aziz and Javed Hashmi. Citing the very ruling of the former NA speaker, Mirza said the charges against Gilani were not relatable, so no question of his disqualification from being a member arose. “The letters of the assistant registrar for registrar of the Supreme Court stands answered accordingly. Furthermore, the petition of Moulvi Iqbal Haider, Advocate being without any merit, is not maintainable and accordingly rejected,” the speaker ruled.
She cited a case titled Kanwar Intizar Muhammad Khan VS Federation of Pakistan and others that the speaker while examining a reference under Article 63 (2) of the Constitution was not supposed to act merely as post office. “The speaker has to apply his own mind judiciously after fully taking into consideration the relevant provisions on the subject and then decide as to whether ‘any question’ in the nature of disqualification has ‘arisen’ which may justify the making of reference to the Chief Election Commissioner.”
Zardari, Gillani and Fehmida Mirza all will go to Jail one day Insha Allah. They are not follwoing the orders of Supreme Court. One day Madam Speaker will regret her decision. She put her bad name in the history today.
It is a matter of time only.
Did anyone expect anything different from this joke of a woman? Not only is she ugly but now she has proven that she is stupid as well. Not a good combination at all.
LOL
Still the amount of make-up she puts on helps feed an army of beauticians in some salon somewhere.
Not only Zardari, Gillani and Fehmida Mirza, but also Nawaz, Shahbaz etc… Mr. Shakeel can you tell me about roll of Nawaz sharif regarding supreme court attack during his regime. I could not forget it, his act when he made an attack on supreme court. At that time where gone his loyalty with law and supreme court and with Pakistan. Now his is talking with which mouth.
How do you justify this government behaviour just becuase Nawaz did what he did. Do you mean that two wrongs make one right. This is lopsided logic in my mind
Well who was thinkin she was gonna disqualify tht t w a t face!
Well said. I loved the t w a t face remark. True
These people deserve such remarks as they heavily lack in shame and self respect !!!!
I think we must learn to respect the decision of the head of the parliament. The doors of courts are open then why personal attacks. Let us behave like matured nation.
You are an idiot of the highest order.
A mature nation would not have let this ramble sit in Parliament, Elect a convict as President or allow a joke like Gilani to remain PM.
A mature nation? Mr Javed, you are in denial
and you are a moron of highest order….are you a follower of Maran Khan??
We are acting as matured nation as we are less concerned about the Games that is being played on highest level.
Its time we should think and act, if did not now no one is gonna come and help us out.
Did she do anything wrong? She followed the rules and precedents set by the parliament earlier. What is the problem with you guys?
Wrong.
She interpreted things to suit the PPP. She should have let something like this go to the ECP because, it is precedent setting. She has used the rules of a gang of thieves and liars decide the fate of a thief and liar.
You sound like a child and probably still believe in Santa Claus.
When loyalties to a "person" or a "party" starts taking precedence over loyalties to the country and the nation, it makes a good case of treason against that person. Hang the traitors.
You seem to be very logical but answer me one question: If SupremCourt really considered YRG's Contempt of Court as a crime of very serious nature, why did it punish him for 30 seconds only; minimum of the minimum punishment. It means SC has admitted that YRG's Contempt of Court was of the mildest nature, and then SC fell short of declaring him as disqualified.Why? It just conveys the message that court is on wrong side of law. Now, Judges r talking of emergency. What the hell about upholding law. They r jumping from their boat and their foolishness is pushing gillani to the right side.
Wasim, in my opinion, the SC convicted and punished gillani to make a point that not only was he found guilty, he also served his full sentence no matter how short the sentence was. This makes him a convicted person who served his full sentence. He has every right to appeal but he stands a convicted person untill (and unless) his conviction is overturned. When a killer is found guilty, he remains a convicted murderer unless he appeals and his conviction is overturned. In the meanwhile he loses certain rights because of his conviction.
So sad that we have yet another incompetent, pathetic individual sitting at the head of the parliament. Is there no end to the number of inept, corrupt & disgraceful people in this country?
For Shame Fehmida Mirza. For shame.
For Shame Fehmida Mirza. For shame.
An apt slogan.
After expressing the wish for emergency, ChiefJustice Iftikhar Chaudhry has started growing moustach like General Zia( see Pakistan Today's cartoon)
No surprise. PPP looking after PPP and calling it 'democracy'. It is more like a MOCK racy but nothing will change until the people rise up and take these scoundrels by the scruff of the neck and whip them before hanging the lot of them from lamp posts in city squares.
I weep for this country. Shattered dreams and broken promises is all the rulers give us
For Shame Fehmida Mirza. For shame.
this newspaper is representative of reactionery, Punjab-biased, and conservative-cum-anti-democratic forces and block all the comments which analyse Pakistan 's political infrastructure seriously. It suppresses free expression of opinion. Express Tribune is a much better paper in this regard. It publishes any scum posted by anyone, but none of any serious material
Does it matter? NO. They are digging their own grave. This Speaker is uglier inside too.Far more uglier indeed.
Pity the nation when Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan chose to defend Nawaz Shareef in plane hijacking case; he was a great patriot. The same patriot decided to defend Gillani; he was dubbed traitor. Could Hamid Khan say why?
because defending a punjabi CJ, or Nawaz is patriotic…defending Sindhi is traitor…!
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