Pakistan's Premier Gets 30-Second Sentence for Contempt

Pakistan's Supreme Court sentenced Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to a symbolic 30 seconds in detention after convicting him of contempt of court, a ruling that left the premier in power and appeared to mark a step down by the nation's highest judges.

The court found Mr. Gilani had failed to follow an earlier ruling to reopen investigations into allegations that President Asif Ali Zardari had received kickbacks from a Swiss company in the 1990s. It said Mr. Gilani served the symbolic detention while attending court on Thursday. The court ruled he would be punished "with imprisonment till the rising of the court today."

The court, under Pakistani law, could have sentenced Mr. Gilani to up to six months in jail for contempt, a ruling that would have led to his immediate removal as prime minister. By deciding not to send him to jail, the Supreme Court cleared the way for the current government to survive through a five-year term, in what would be the first full tenure in Pakistan after a long history of governments unseated by military coups.

 The justices "did not want to push the government any further. They stopped short of undermining the system," said Muhammad Waseem, a professor of political sciences at the Lahore University of Management Sciences.

A senior member of the ruling Pakistan People's Party said the government was considering calling early elections, possibly between October and December, ahead of the end of its full term in March.

The Election Commission of Pakistan could strike Mr. Gilani off as a member of the National Assembly after the conviction, but the process would likely take months. In such an event, the PPP could appoint another prime minister.

The three-way struggle between the nation's government, judiciary and powerful military has destabilized the country and detracted from efforts to fight militancy and stave off an economic deterioration.

Pakistan might have to ask the International Monetary Fund for a new borrowing program because of its high debt and balance-of-payments deficit, local media reported this week. A Ministry of Finance official declined to comment.

The country borrowed over $11 billion from the IMF following a 2008 balance-of-payments crisis. The program ended last year with IMF officials saying they were disappointed at Pakistan's failure to institute reforms, including increasing taxes on its wealthiest citizens.

The judiciary in Pakistan plays a more activist role than in many Western countries. In 2008, street protests by Supreme Court lawyers, led by the current chief justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, helped restore democracy after nearly a decade of military rule.

After the PPP-led government came to power in 2008, Mr. Chaudhry pushed for the reopening of graft cases into politicians who had been covered by an earlier amnesty, including Mr. Zardari.

Lawyers for Mr. Gilani argued the prime minister couldn't reopen a criminal case against Mr. Zardari because Pakistan's constitution grants the president immunity from criminal prosecution.

The government will continue to ignore the earlier ruling that orders action to be taken against Mr. Zardari, who is also co-chairman, with his son, of the PPP, the senior party politician said. Mr. Zardari has denied the charges against him.

The government's position looks less precarious than late last year when rumors of a likely military coup were swirling around Pakistan.

The army was embarrassed last year by the U.S. raid on a Pakistan garrison town in May that killed Osama bin Laden. Then, allegations surfaced that government officials had sent a memo to Washington just after the raid, urging the U.S. to help to push Pakistan's military to give up its role in domestic politics.

In December, Mr. Zardari traveled to Dubai for surgery following a small stroke, sparking rumors he was going into exile ahead of an army takeover. But the coup didn't happen and Mr. Zardari returned home after treatment.

The Supreme Court in December ordered a judicial commission to probe what was quickly called "Memogate," but the affair has fallen off the front pages of Pakistan's newspapers in recent months. The court turned instead to Mr. Gilani's refusal to reopen graft investigations into Mr. Zardari.

Lawyers say many of Pakistan's politicians are corrupt and must be held accountable. Government officials retort the courts have overstepped the limits of their role.

A report this month by the International Commission of Jurists, a Geneva-based nongovernment organization of judges and lawyers, said Pakistan's top courts were wielding unusually wide-ranging powers, stepping into areas usually reserved for government.
The report noted that Chief Justice Chaudhry often launched legal proceedings on his own initiative based on articles he had read in Pakistan's newspapers, introducing a "certain element of chance to the practice which is hardly compatible with the rule of law."
Others argue the judiciary is only trying to go after politicians who for years have amassed illicit wealth.
The charges against Mr. Zardari involve allegations he and his late wife, Benazir Bhutto, a former prime minister who was assassinated in 2007, received kickbacks from a Swiss company in the 1990s.
A Swiss court in 2003 found them guilty but the verdict was overturned on appeal. Swiss prosecutors, with help from Pakistan's government, continued to build a case.
Mr. Zardari spent 11 years in jail in Pakistan in the late 1990s and early 2000s on graft charges, none of which led to conviction. When not in jail, Mr. Zardari lived in exile with Ms. Bhutto around the world. He denies any wrongdoing and says the accusations are politically motivated.
In 2007, then-President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, a military dictator, declared amnesty on graft charges against hundreds of people, including Ms. Bhutto and Mr. Zardari. Pakistan's government wrote to Swiss authorities saying it no longer wanted to cooperate in investigating Mr. Zardari. Swiss prosecutors subsequently closed the case.
But the Pakistan Supreme Court in 2009 overturned the amnesty and ordered the government to write to Swiss authorities asking for the graft investigation to be reopened. The PPP has declined to do so, citing Mr. Zardari's immunity as president under the constitution.