Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf is likely to appear before the Supreme Court today (Tuesday) in the NRO implementation case to seek another period of four to six weeks from the five-judge bench to find a solution to the matter.
“The Law Ministry and political leadership of the ruling party – Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) – have advised the prime minister to seek another adjournment of four to six weeks with the plea that he could not deliberate upon the subject matter due to his pressing activities during the past fortnight, including his visit to the World Economic Forum in China, his visits to the flood-affected areas and other necessary engagements,” a source in the government informed Pakistan Today, requesting anonymity. The source said the government’s strategy was also deliberated upon by the heads of coalition parties who gathered at the Presidency late on Monday to take stock of the situation. The source said the coalition leaders agreed to the government’s strategy and assured prime minister of their support, telling him that they would escort him to the court premises to show political support for the issue.
Later, president’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar confirmed that the meeting had decided that Ashraf would appear before the Supreme Court today (Tuesday) and the coalition partners had decided to accompany the prime minister to the Supreme Court as a mark of solidarity.
He said Law Minister Farooq Naik briefed the meeting on the status of various court cases and that the coalition partners reiterated their full support to the government. Earlier, the PM held a series of meetings with members of his legal team and the political leadership to fine-tune the strategy for today (Tuesday).
He held a meeting with Law Minister Farooq Naik at the PM’s House and discussed matters pertaining to the NRO implementation case. The source said the minister advised the premier to seek another adjournment due to his massive engagements. A handout also confirmed the meeting between the two and added that the prime minister directed the minister to expedite the disposal of cases pending in his ministry for legal opinion, so that execution of work on various projects could be ensured and legal issues causing unnecessary delays could be avoided.
PML-Q’s Deputy Prime Minister Pervez Elahi also met Raja Pervez Ashraf and passed on a message from PML-Q President Shujaat Hussain. Both the leaders discussed the overall situation in the country. The prime minister later called on President Asif Ali Zardari and discussed his appearance before the court with him. He sought guidance from the president and shared the strategy advised by the law minister.
Per an official statement, the meeting of heads of allied parties was held at Aiwan-e-Sadr with PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf in the chair. The meeting was attended by Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, Mushahid Hussain Syed and Basharat Raja of the PML-Q, Asfandyar Wali Khan and Afrasiab Khattak of the ANP, Dr Farooq Sattar and Babar Khan Ghouri of the MQM, Mir Israrullah Khan Zehri of the BNP and Hameedullah Jan Afridi, Munir Khan Orakzai and Abbas Khan Afridi of FATA. Former PM Yousaf Raza Gilani, Farooq Naik, Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar, Mehreen Anwar Raja and Farhatullah Babar were also present.
Farhatullah Babar said the country’s current situation, with a focus on energy issues, floods situation, law and order and coalition matters, were discussed during the meeting. The PM briefed the meeting on the current power situation in the country and progress on various measures being taken to overcome the power shortage.
The meeting was informed that various immediate steps undertaken by the government had resulted in steady improvement in the power situation and expressed the hope that with the rising water levels in reservoirs, the power generation would improve further. The president directed for vigorous steps to address the power issue. The meeting was also updated on the latest flood situation in various parts of the country and the steps taken for relief and rehabilitation of flood affected people.
The spokesperson said the meeting condemned the anti-Islam film and called it an act of “grave provocation”. Babar said the prime minister also briefed the meeting of coalition parties about his recent visit to China and bilateral meetings with the Chinese leadership and world leaders on the sidelines of World Economic Forum. Participants of the meeting also prayed for the victims of fire incidents in Lahore and Karachi and expressed sympathies with the bereaved families.