Expiration date on NRO is officially over!

[third eye]

Al Jazeera English - CENTRAL/S. ASIA - Pakistan corruption amnesty expires


An amnesty on corruption cases protecting the Pakistani president and thousands of government bureaucrats and politicians is set to expire, threatening to cause a major political crisis in the country.

The so-called National Reconciliation Ordinance could be extended by the parliament, but the government is seen as too weak to win an extension after Saturday's deadline.

Last week, a minister of state published the names of 8,041 people who have benefited from the amnesty, including Asif Ali Zardari, the president, and four cabinet ministers.

The list is connected to 3,478 cases ranging from murder, embezzlement, abuse of power and write-offs of bank loans worth millions of dollars.

Zardari's office said the president would be prepared to fight any charges against him.

"These cases were all made by two hostile governments and they were politically motivated cases not just against the president but many other political leaders," Farahnaz Ispahani, a spokeswoman, said.

Zardari's presidential immunity prevents him from being prosecuted while in office. But the Supreme Court could choose to challenge his eligibility for the post since the 2007 amnesty decree by Pervez Musharraf, the former president, was never formally approved by parliament.

Many of the people covered by the amnesty are members of Zardari's People's Party and prosecution of them could further weaken him.

The president, who already spent several years in jail for corruption, has lost support as Pakistan struggles with Taliban violence, a recession and stalled efforts on reform.

Syed Pirzada, a political analyst, told Al Jazeera that there was pressure from the Pakistani people to scrap the amnesty as it was seen as encouraging and legitimising corruption.

He said that despite the presidential immunity, Zardari and his entire political leadership will be facing "a very tough time."

"This immunity is not being enjoyed by the rest of the leadership... As long as Zardari stays in office, the issue will continue to haunt him.

"Even if the law cannot throw him out, the public pressure will make it very difficult for him to survive."

As Zardari faced the expiration of the amnesty, he relinquished command of the country's nuclear arsenal on Friday.

The decision was the result of a Supreme Court ruling aimed at reversing the 2007 imposition of emergency rule by Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 military coup.

The responsibility to oversee the national nuclear capabilities was transferred to Yousuf Raza Gilani, the prime minister.

"Transferring the chairmanship of the National Command Authority to the prime minister is giant step forward to empowering the elected parliament and the prime minister," Farhatullah Babar, a presidential spokesman, said in a
statement.

Zardari also reissued 27 other Musharraf-era ordinances and told Express News TV that he was likely to give away his powers to dissolve parliament and appoint services chiefs by the end of this year.

Analysts said the move signaled Zardari's willingness to shed powers as part of a compromise that would enable him to keep his job.

"It appears to be a self-defence and survival strategy," Rasool Bakhsh Rais, a political science professor at Lahore University of Management Science, said.

Musharraf's amnesty list was part of a US-backed deal to allow Zardari's late wife, Benazir Bhutto, a former Pakistani prime minister, to return from exile in 2007 and run for office safe in the knowledge she would not be dogged by corruption allegations.

The US and other Western powers supported the bid by Bhutto, who was seen as a secular and pro-Western politician.

But Bhutto, who was forced from her post twice in the 1990s because of alleged corruption, was killed by a suicide bomber shortly after she returned to Pakistan.

Zardari took over as co-chairman of her party and was elected president in September 2008 by federal and regional legislators.

 

[Awesome]

DAWN.COM | Pakistan | NRO, eight other ordinances cease to exist

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday re-promulgated 27 ordinances, leaving nine others, including the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), to lapse after expiry of their 120-day term.

Although 37 ordinances, including 29 promulgated by Gen (retd) Pervez Musharaf, were tabled in parliament on orders of the Supreme Court, only one of them – the National Command and Control Authority Ordinance – became an act.

Under Article 89 of the Constitution, the president can re-promulgate an ordinance on expiry. About the NRO, presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar said: ‘Nothing will happen; the caravan of life will move on.’

The re-promulgated ordinances are: The Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority Ordinance; Code of Criminal Procedure (Second Amdt) Ordinance; National Commission for Human Development (Amdt) Ordinance; Arbitration (International Investment Dispute) Ordinance; Pakistan Institute of Development Economics Ordinance; Police Order (Amendment) Ordinance; Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Ordinance; Anti-Money Laundering Ordinance; Federal Public Service Commission (Amendment) Ordinance; Industrial Development Bank of Pakistan (Re-Organisation and Conversion) Ordinance; Intellectual Property Organisation of Pakistan Ordinance; Competition Ordinance; National Disaster Management Ordinance; Recognition and Enforcement (Arbitration Agreement and Foreign Arbitral Awards) Ordinance; Pakistan Penal Code (Third Amdt) Ordinance; Islamabad Consumers Protection (Amdt) Ordinance; Price Control and Prevention of Profiteering and Hoarding (Amdt) Ordinance and Trade Organisations Ordinance and the National Vocational and Technical Education Ordinance and the Patents (Amdt) Ordinance.

Dunno why the other ordinances weren't ratified?

Anyway the NRO is over and we've should start nabbing people. Even if we can't get the President yet, let us get those whom we can.

---------- Post added at 10:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:35 PM ----------

Govt to honor courts’ decision on NRO: PM

RAWALPINDI: Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on Saturday rejected the assumption of any threat to government or democracy, saying such hearsays were mere speed-breakers, aimed at lowering our valour.

“We are moving straight and in the right direction. Insha Allah there is no threat to this government or democracy,” Gilani told the newsmen here after visiting Adiala jail, where he spent five years of his imprisonment before reaching the PM House.

The Prime Minister there was also a surge of political maturity in the country, adding, PML (N) Qaid Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif also did not want the derailment of democratic system.

He said the PPP’s alliance with MQM as well as other coalition partners would remain intact.

“When I took oath, there were talks that I will remain PM for three months only. Then after three months, it was said, three months more. Now I am in office for the last over 18 months. These things are mere speed-breakers to lower our valour,” the Prime Minister remarked.

To a question about NRO, Prime Minister Gilani said the PPP has always faced courts and cases. “Be it Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Shaheed, Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, Asif Ali Zardari or other leaders, facing courts was not a new thing for us. The PPP faced accountability in every era,” he added.

As far as the lapsing of NRO Ordinance on November 28 is concerned, the Prime Minister maintained, “We will honor the courts’ decisions.”

About his relationship with President Zardari, the Prime Minister said transferring the powers as Chairman National Command Authority to him by the President was a true litmus test of the relations between him and the President.

Prime Minister Gilani further said, President Zardari believes in the balance of powers between the President and the Parliament and was committed to repealing the 17th Constitutional Amendment as well as 58-2 (B).

 

[Awesome]

.:: SAMAA - NRO beneficiaries should follow Saeed Mehdi's footsteps: Sharif

ISLAMABAD: All NRO beneficiaries should follow the footsteps of Saeed Mehdi said the PML-N Chairman Nawaz Sharif while talking to the media Friday.

Punjab chief minister's advisor and former bureaucrat Saeed Mehdi resigned after his name was published among NRO beneficiaries.

Mehdi was alleged to be involved in corruption as a chairman of the Capital Development Authority (CDA). He rejected all the allegations against him as baseless. Mehdi said that he will not get any government position until his name is cleared out of such allegations.

Sharif also said that the media should give the NRO argument a better angle. He said, "Debating and arguing suppress the real issues."

"The country faces issues other than politics," he said. "If the constitution is followed, then the democracy will not face any threat."

He further said,"The real problems are different and they are not given any attention. The establishment of peace and economic success should be our priority. Alongwith the NRO beneficiaries, the names of those persons should also be exposed, who got their debts written off." He said that he told the Prime Minister the same thing in Nawabshah, and asked him to get the money recovered. Those who usurped land should also be held accountable.

He also said that things are no better than how they were in the Musharraf era. There needs to be more work done to get agreement on the Balochistan package.

"Although the government and the Prime Minister want progress, until Akbar Bugti's case is not solved, the Balochis will not be pacified," he said.

He also said that the problem of the missing persons is also very crucial. SAMAA

This would end up being another political coup for Sharif. His party guy resigned after his name showed up on the list of NRO beneficiaries, setting the much needed precedent.

 

[Awesome]

DAWN.COM | Pakistan | Zardari, Gilani meet to defuse ?tension? triggered by NRO

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani met on Monday to defuse ‘tension’ between their ‘camps’ triggered by the release of a list of beneficiaries of the National Reconciliation Ordinance, sources told Dawn.

President Zardari is reported to have taken a serious note of the manner in which the list was released to the media and was of the view that it should have been made public after removing anomalies.A number of PPP stalwarts, including close aides of the president, have objected to the inclusion of their names in the list.

President Zardari endorsed their viewpoint that the list was presented in ‘haste’ and that Minister of State for Law Afzal Sindhu should not have held a press conference but the list should have been issued in the form of a press release.

Sources close to the prime minister said the two leaders had met to clear some misunderstandings created by the list.

The prime minister also discussed with the president possible repercussions of the reopening of cases by courts which had been closed after the promulgation of the NRO.

They also exchanged views on the work of a parliamentary committee revisiting the Constitution and discussing matters relating to repeal of the 17th Amendment.

According to an official handout, ‘The meeting held in the presidency also discussed matters relating to the current political situation, the ongoing drive against militants in Waziristan, fate of internally displaced persons repatriated to Malakand and Swat and those who left tribal areas because of operation, besides the measures taken by the government to address sugar problem and ‘Aghaz-i-Haqooq-i-Balochistan Package’.

Briefing newsmen after the meeting, president’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar said that Gilani discussed with Zardari salient features of the Balochistan empowerment package to be unveiled in a joint sitting of parliament on Tuesday.

Babar said the president complimented the prime minister on finalisation of the Balochistan package and expressed the hope that it would go a long way in redressing the grievances of the Baloch people.

Gilani discussed with Zardari the constitutional issues being thrashed out by the constitutional reforms committee for placing before parliament soon.

They also discussed the new accountability law which is under process. Gilani said he had started the process of taking other political parties into confidence on the issue, Babar informed.

The president said that the policy of national reconciliation should be continued and all political parties be taken on board on all national issues.

 

[BATMAN]

Anyway the NRO is over and we've should start nabbing people. Even if we can't get the President yet, let us get those whom we can.

It sound simple to common sense but we should not forget that present cheif justice have reputation of taking bribes and changing his rulings.
If all politicians contribute together they can manage to make him declare all their crimes leagal.

 

[Awesome]

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The 17th Amendment will be done away with during December, President Asif Ali Zardari said on Friday.

“We wanted to abolish the 17th Amendment from day one, but we wanted to do it through a unanimous decision, as the 1973 constitution was also approved unanimously,” said the president in an interview with a private television channel.

In excerpts published on Friday, Zardari said his eligibility could not be challenged in any court since he had indemnity cover. “According to our legal team, the president has indemnity [cover] ... eligibility cannot be challenged now,” said Zardari.

He said his eligibility as a candidate for the office of president was not even challenged by his opponents at the time of election – a reference to Justice (r) Saeeduz Zaman Siddiqui and Mushahid Hussain.

About the Balochistan package, the president said it was a “wonderful start” to development in the province, but conceded that some quarters could have complaints.

Replying to a question about former president Pervez Musharraf, he said, “Let the court decide about him.”

About the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, he said police, the FIA and other departments were investigating, and those responsible would be punished.

About the war on terror, Zardari said the failure of peace deals led to military operations in Swat and South Waziristan.

He said the US was thinking about reviewing its policy on drone attacks, which would enable Pakistan to secure the drone technology and launch such attacks on its own.

US-Taliban: Replying to a question about reports on talks between the US and the Taliban, he said, “We are getting this news through the media ... Pakistan was not on board [over this issue].” He said the war on terror was now being considered in Pakistan as the country’s own war.

About the alleged presence of Mullah Omar in Karachi, Quetta or any other city of Pakistan – the president said the US had not provided any evidence to prove the claim.

MQM, ANP: About relations among coalition partners, the president said ebbs and flows and differences of opinion were part of democracy, but “we want to take along all our allies, including the MQM and ANP”.

Zardari said he was thankful to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif for talking about stopping the way of non-democratic forces. “Nawaz and I, both of us want to strengthen the democratic process in the country,” said the president.

About a proposal to rename NWFP ‘Pakhtoonkhawa’, Zardari said the nation would soon hear good news.

About the reinstatement of sacked judges, the president said, “If the judiciary was restored through public pressure ... I am also part of the masses.”

Media: About media criticism, Zardari said because of public relations companies’ influence and other factors, even the foreign media was not completely independent and neutral. “The Pakistani media will grow with the passage of time ... we will exhibit tolerance.” app

They just gagged the media, granted it was a lamer like Shahid Masood, but still who is to be the judge and jury on who gets gagged and who not?

 

[Awesome]

Q+A - Does Pakistan amnesty lapse pose a threat to Zardari? | South Asia | Reuters)

REUTERS - An amnesty that covered about 8,000 Pakistanis facing various charges, including President Asif Ali Zardari and four cabinet ministers, lapsed on Saturday.

Embattled Zardari cannot be prosecuted because of presidential immunity, although the re-opening of politically charged corruption cases involving people close to him could further weaken him.

Here are a few questions and answers on the amnesty controversy and the implications for Zardari.

WHY WAS THE AMNESTY ORDER ISSUED?

It was introduced through a decree by former President Pervez Musharraf in 2007 under a plan to share power with Zardari's wife and former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto.

Nicknamed "Mr Ten Percent", Zardari was accused of receiving kickbacks while awarding lucrative contracts during Bhutto's two stints in office in the 1990s.

He spent years in jail on various charges, which he says were politically motivated. Zardari was never convicted.

The amnesty paved the way for Bhutto to return from self-imposed exile in October 2007. She was assassinated just over two months later, leaving Zardari to lead her party to victory in general elections in February 2008 and then become president after Musharraf resigned in August.


WHAT IS AT STAKE?

The amnesty issue has dealt another political blow to the unpopular Zardari, although it's not clear if it will end his leadership.

Corruption cases against a few of his close associates, including Interior Minister Rehman Malik, may be revived.

The controversy raises the possibility of a new crisis in nuclear-armed Pakistan, something that would worry the United States, which sees its regional ally as crucial to defeating the Taliban in Afghanistan.

It may also distract the Islamabad government from its own campaign against the Taliban at home, where a stepped-up bombing campaign has deepened security fears.

HOW DID THE LATEST POLITICAL CONTROVERSY ERUPT?

The amnesty law was challenged in the Supreme Court and it directed the government to get parliamentary approval of all decrees issued by Musharraf, including the amnesty, by Nov. 28.

The government tried to place the issue before parliament this month but backtracked after top opposition leader and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and some of Zardari's allies vowed to block the move, saying it would legitimise corruption.

Despite the government's retreat, the opposition and media insisted on publication of the list of those who benefited from the amnesty.

Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, a Zardari ally, then ordered the list to be published, hoping to calm the opposition.

CAN ZARDARI BE PROSECUTED?

While Zardari's presidential immunity prevents him from being prosecuted, some legal experts contend his eligibility for office could be legally challenged. He can also be prosecuted after leaving office.

Aides of Sharif, Zardari's main rival and Pakistan's most popular politician, are demanding resignations of government officials, including Zardari's associates whose names appeared on the list. Any departures could throw Pakistan into fresh political turmoil.

That, analysts say, is why Sharif may not want to threaten Zardari's civilian government -- formed after nine years of military rule under Musharraf -- at least for now.

Sharif may try to turn Zardari into a figurehead leader by exploiting strains between the president and Pakistan's powerful army over a U.S. aid bill that critics say contained humiliating conditions.

Zardari initially rejected suggestions the bill would undermine Pakistan's sovereignty, but analysts say damage has been done already when anti-American sentiment is running high.