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ASIA NEWS September 18, 2012, 4:08 a.m. ET
Pakistan PM Agrees to Graft Probe on Zardari
By TOM WRIGHT
Pakistan's Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf agreed at a Supreme Court hearing Tuesday to reopen graft investigations into the country's president, a move which could reduce tensions between the country's legislative and executive branches.
Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf waves upon his arrival at the Supreme Court in Islamabad on September 18, 2012.
The Supreme Court has been trying for years to pursue a corruption investigation of President Asif Ali Zardari. Earlier this year, it found former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gillani in contempt of court for failing to act on a court order to start a graft probe of the president, a decision which led to Mr. Gilani's ouster in June.
The court wants the government to write to Swiss authorities instructing them to reopen an investigation into allegations that Mr. Zardari took kickbacks from a Swiss firm in the 1990s. In 2008, Pakistan asked Swiss authorities to drop an earlier investigation into this matter after an amnesty in Pakistan over alleged graft cases. Swiss authorities subsequently closed the case.
But the Supreme Court later canceled the amnesty and has been fighting to get the case re-opened. Mr. Zardari, who a decade ago spent time in jail in Pakistan on allegations of corruption but never has been charged, denies wrongdoing. He has claimed the court is trying to enhance its own powers by bringing him down. Attempts to reach Mr. Zardari and Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry were not successful.
Mr. Ashraf, who replaced Mr. Gillani as prime minister, told the Supreme Court Tuesday that he has instructed the law minister to write to Switzerland to get the case against Mr. Zardari reopened.
The move likely shows the Pakistan People's Party-led government is trying to reduce tensions with the Supreme Court after Mr. Gilani's ouster. The government knows that, even if Switzerland reopens the case, Pakistani authorities will not be able to move swiftly against Mr. Zardari, as the president enjoys immunity from prosecution, said Feisal Hussain Naqvi, a lawyer based in Lahore. "Nothing will happen immediately. The president of Pakistan is entitled to immunity under international law," he said.
Mr. Zardari, who came to power in 2008, is likely hoping to see through his government's term, which ends in spring next year, analysts say. Doing so would make him Pakistan's first democratically-elected leader to finish a full term since the country's independence from Britain in 1947. If he loses general elections next year, he will no longer be covered by immunity.
Before becoming president, Mr. Zardari, widower of former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated in 2007, spent many years in exile in London and Dubai.
Pakistan PM Agrees to Graft Probe on Zardari - WSJ.com
Pakistan PM Agrees to Graft Probe on Zardari
By TOM WRIGHT
Pakistan's Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf agreed at a Supreme Court hearing Tuesday to reopen graft investigations into the country's president, a move which could reduce tensions between the country's legislative and executive branches.
Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf waves upon his arrival at the Supreme Court in Islamabad on September 18, 2012.
The Supreme Court has been trying for years to pursue a corruption investigation of President Asif Ali Zardari. Earlier this year, it found former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gillani in contempt of court for failing to act on a court order to start a graft probe of the president, a decision which led to Mr. Gilani's ouster in June.
The court wants the government to write to Swiss authorities instructing them to reopen an investigation into allegations that Mr. Zardari took kickbacks from a Swiss firm in the 1990s. In 2008, Pakistan asked Swiss authorities to drop an earlier investigation into this matter after an amnesty in Pakistan over alleged graft cases. Swiss authorities subsequently closed the case.
But the Supreme Court later canceled the amnesty and has been fighting to get the case re-opened. Mr. Zardari, who a decade ago spent time in jail in Pakistan on allegations of corruption but never has been charged, denies wrongdoing. He has claimed the court is trying to enhance its own powers by bringing him down. Attempts to reach Mr. Zardari and Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry were not successful.
Mr. Ashraf, who replaced Mr. Gillani as prime minister, told the Supreme Court Tuesday that he has instructed the law minister to write to Switzerland to get the case against Mr. Zardari reopened.
The move likely shows the Pakistan People's Party-led government is trying to reduce tensions with the Supreme Court after Mr. Gilani's ouster. The government knows that, even if Switzerland reopens the case, Pakistani authorities will not be able to move swiftly against Mr. Zardari, as the president enjoys immunity from prosecution, said Feisal Hussain Naqvi, a lawyer based in Lahore. "Nothing will happen immediately. The president of Pakistan is entitled to immunity under international law," he said.
Mr. Zardari, who came to power in 2008, is likely hoping to see through his government's term, which ends in spring next year, analysts say. Doing so would make him Pakistan's first democratically-elected leader to finish a full term since the country's independence from Britain in 1947. If he loses general elections next year, he will no longer be covered by immunity.
Before becoming president, Mr. Zardari, widower of former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated in 2007, spent many years in exile in London and Dubai.
Pakistan PM Agrees to Graft Probe on Zardari - WSJ.com
