Gilani is still PM and he will remain PM

ISLAMABAD: Law and Justice Minister Farooq H Naek on Thursday told the National Assembly that Yousaf Raza Gilani is still the prime minister and will remain so, as the Supreme Court had not disqualified him. “Prime minister has not been disqualified. He is the prime minister and will remain the prime minister,” Naek commented concluding his speech in the House in which he gave a historic account of the cases against Benazir Bhutto and President Asif Ali Zardari. He said the PM had never disobeyed the court nor ridiculed it, rather appeared before the judiciary as an obedient person, not like an arrogant PM. “I want to clarify here that the Supreme Court has not disqualified Yousaf Raza Gilani as prime minister or member of the National Assembly,” Naek said, adding the court verdict just stated that it might entail serious consequences. He said as detailed verdict was yet to come, it is up to the PM to decide whether he wants to file an appeal or not.

“Until the appeal is decided, the whole procedure would be considered as proceedings,” he observed. Naek said the PM has not been disqualified rather an observation had been made by the court.

He said the charges were framed against the premier for disobeying the court verdict. Naek told the House that under Contempt of Court Ordinance 2003, there were three kinds of contempt – civil, criminal and judicial. However, the proceedings initiated against Gilani fell in the category of civil contempt that dealt with disobedience of court order, as the other two were about obstruction of disposal of justice and scandalising the judiciary, respectively.

He said normally a short order followed a detailed verdict, but in this case, a detailed verdict had not been issued, rather the PM had been convicted for wilfully flouting and disobeying the court order. staff report

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