Disqualification of Prime Minister Gilani

The apex court has apparently taken an extraordinary and an unfortunate step to disqualify a sitting and democratically elected prime minister of the country.

The whole situation could have come out in a different way if the apex court had channelized a course of action that now brought the parliament, executive and the judiciary in direct confrontation with each other.

The court could have avoided pursing the contempt of court case at a number of junctures, as the major issues of corruption was against the president not the premier.

Although the prime minister committed contempt of court, the best way for the apex court was not to have waded so deep into such visibly political confrontation.

It could have let the ruling of the Speaker National Assembly’s ruling that has the support of parliamentary resolution. It could have declared her decision unacceptable and referred the case to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), if the first option was not possible.

The court at least would not have taken on the same role of directly disqualifying an elected prime minister, even if the outcome was finally the likewise.

The latest decision not only disrupted an existing democratic setup but also set a worrying precedent for the coming years.

But the damage has been done and the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) has a significant choice to make. In spite of taking the individual, the party should now take the high moral ground and concentrate on the system.

Amongst the options the PPP has one is that it could deny accepting the ruling. Secondly, the ruling party could delay the case by using the constitution to argue that the president can ask the premier to continue in office until a new one is elected.

Parliament should elect a new leader of the House for the sake of preserving the system. The party should express the reservations against the ruling, even through a strongly worded parliamentary resolution, but should continue the democratic system.

The initial reports indicate that the coalition partners have already embarked on this way. However, it is still deeply unfortunate that matter have come to this state.

It would have been a much-need success for the country if both the elected government and its chief executive could complete the five-year term.

The general elections will be held in the coming months; hence, the final decision can be left to the people’s court.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=26419

Posted by Faisal Farooq on Jun 20 2012. Filed under National, Opinion, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.