Gilani expresses full respect for the courts

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani Thursday told the apex court that he had no intention to either disobey, defy or ridicule the Court.

In a statement made before the seven-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Nasirul Mulk, Prime Minister Gilani said Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was the founder of PPP and creator of Pakistan's Constitution, and while in the death cell, he had read out the valuable verse of Sufi poet Khawaja Ghulam Farid. "My body and soul are afflicted with pain and agony," the Prime Minister quoted the former PPP Chief.

The Prime Minister said Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto respected the Courts even at that time and true to the legacy of her illustrious father, Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Shaheed, also fought her cases in the courts, in a clear manifestation of her respect for the judiciary.

The Prime Minister narrated historical perspective and pointed that Begum Nusrat Bhutto also held the Courts in high esteem. He pointed that he too faced the rigorous imprisonment for five years.

The Prime Minister said he had submitted himself before the Apex Court, which manifested his commitment to the judiciary and the due process of law.

Gilani said he was accompanied by the Governor, Ministers and the heads of the coalition parties as a mark of respect and reverence to the Supreme Court.

The Prime Minister said two serving Prime Ministers have faced the contempt of court notices in the past. He pointed there was a clear difference between their earlier appearances and his, and said the historians would note the difference.

Talking to media in Luddan (Vehari) the Prime Minister mentioned to his previous assertion that he would appear before the Court when summoned even though he had not been summoned by that time. He said he also declared on the floor of the House that he would appear before the Court.

The Prime Minister said Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was the author of the consensus Constitution of 1973. He said that he wanted to place it on record that East Pakistan had separated by then and the unicameral legislature of the time had 128 members only.

The Prime Minister said Pakistan today had a bicameral legislature with a total membership of 442 and the 1973 constitution was restored through consensus.

He said after the fall of Dhaka, Pakistan was intact today because of the consensus constitution given by Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. He said had the government no respect for the Courts, it would have not restored the Constitution of 1973 to its original form through the 18th Constitutional Amendment. He said it was reflective of the respect and independence of the judiciary.

The Prime Minister said that during the deliberations on the 18th Amendment, NRO was also discussed. He said Raza Rabbani, Chairman of the Constitutional Committee and other leaders played an important role in the unanimous passage of the 18th Constitutional Amendment.

The Prime Minister said the point of Presidential immunity was not raised at that time but the Committee kept it intact. He said that the immunity enjoyed by the President of Pakistan was trans-national in character and the same was also the matter in case of the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister.

The Prime Minister reminded the Court that a plane carrying the then Army Chief was ordered to land in India in October 1999.

The Prime Minister said that in the background of the constitutional immunity, "had we chosen to hand over the President to other country, what message would it have conveyed to the rest of the world about Pakistan?"

"How could we now afford to hand over an elected President with a mandate of two-thirds majority to another country?" the Prime Minister asked.

He said that he had represented the people in several representative assemblies. He said that he represented his federal party in Majlis-e-Shura in 1982.

"I was elected to District Council Multan in 1983 and to the National Assembly in 1988, 1990, 1993 and 2008 and also had the honour of serving as Speaker of the National Assembly. By virtue of my political career, I am familiar with the constitutional requirements and procedures," he said.

The Prime Minister said that at the time of restoration of the Constitution to its original character, it was suggested not to lift the ban on the third-time premiership.

But, he said the Charter of Democracy, inked by Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, clearly stipulated that the restriction on being the Prime Minister for the third time would be removed.

The Prime Minister assured the Court that he and his coalition partners have great respect for the Supreme Court and said his counsel Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan would pursue the case from constitutional, legal and technical point of view.