Islamabad, In reference to Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani”s disqualification case, an editorial in a Pakistan daily has said, being the head of parliament, the National Assembly (NA) Speaker”s decision ought to be respected and accepted by all and sundry.
The editorial states that the Pakistan Constitution guarantees powers to the Speaker to rule on any question affecting the NA membership of any member, but the same powers when exercised by Dr Fehmida Mirza in Gilani”s case, faced disagreement from the opposition.
It said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is running full tilt towards another debacle, and this time the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) has joined them in filing petitions in the Supreme Court against the decision Dr Mirza. One wonders whether this is just another exercise in political maneouvring, the editorial added.
The Supreme Court convicted Gilani on April 26 in a contempt case for not complying with its repeated orders with regard to writing a letter to the Swiss authorities requesting them to reopen the graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari. This case widened the fissures even further in the relationship between the judiciary and the executive, it further said.
The case against Gilani gave the opposition parties an opportunity to play politics and run an anti-prime minister campaign in different circles with full vigour, it added.
However, Dr Mirza used her authority and rejected sending a reference to the Election Commission of Pakistan to initiate any further actions in this regard, it said.
The PML-N”s petition calls the Speaker”s May 24 ruling ”arbitrary, capricious and illegal”, it added.
However, the courts are constitutionally barred from adjudicating on parliament”s proceedings or decisions, and it would be logical to expect that the Supreme Court therefore would not entertain the petitions of the PML-N and the PTI, it said.
However, if it admits them for hearing, another clash would erupt, this time not only between the judiciary and the executive but also involving parliament, an elected constitutional body whose supremacy is absolute and indisputable, it concluded.
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