Live: PPP says Gilani removal is 'revenge' by Pak CJ

12.06pm: Lahore, Jun 20 (PTI) Leaders of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party believe that the allegations of corruption levelled against Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry’s son have some link to the Supreme Court’s decision to disqualify Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.

Arsalan Iftikhar, the son of the Chief Justice, has been accused of receiving payments of over Rs 342 million from property tycoon Malik Riaz Hussain to influence cases in the apex court. The tycoon has acknowledged making the payments in a statement submitted to the Supreme Court, which directed authorities to take action against Iftikhar and Hussain.

“Since the Chief Justice’s son case surfaced, the case to disqualify the Prime Minister was suddenly taken up by the Supreme Court and we had the decision regarding Gilani’s disqualification,” senior PPP leader Usman Salim Malik told PTI.

Malik said after the corruption case involving the Chief Justice’s son, it seemed as if the apex court was in a hurry to “punish” Gilani.

“It is a biased decision as the courts have always targeted PPP governments. We reject this verdict and the masses will give a befitting reply to it in the next election,” Malik said.

**11.00am:**Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has said that by disobeying the court order to reopen corruption cases against Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, Yousuf Raza Gilani not only dishonoured the judiciary but also hurt his own dignity.

“No matter who becomes the new prime minister, he will have to write the letter (to the Swiss authorities to open graft cases against Zardari),” the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief told the Pakistani Geo News channel.

Sharif described the present government as a “perfect recipe for the country’s disaster” if it continued to remain in power, and said the government should hold general elections immediately.

“What is a single good thing that the present government has done so far to justify its further being in power?” Sharif asked.

10.06am: The Dawn newspaper says that the opinion in Pakistan to the Supreme Court judgement disqualifying Gilani as Prime Minister has been mixed. In a column the newspaper notes ,

Politician and lawyer S.M. Zafar, who is a member of the PML-Q, said the judgment was expected as the former prime minister had defied the orders of the apex court on a number of occasions.

However, others did not agree with him.

Barrister Fawad Chaudhry, a former adviser to the former prime minister, said the decision had put a question mark on various judicial appointments made in the recent days. He was of the opinion that it would take about four days to elect a new prime minister and it was a big question as to who would fill the gap.

He also wondered how a three-member bench had interpreted the judgment of a seven-member bench.

9.45am The ruling Pakistan People’s Party has nominated senior leader Makhdoom Shahabuddin for the post of premier following the Supreme Court’s disqualification of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, according to a media report today.

The decision was made at a meeting of senior PPP leaders chaired early this morning by President Asif Ali Zardari, Geo News channel quoted its sources as saying. The meeting further decided to convene a session of the National Assembly or lower house of parliament on Thursday to formally elect the new leader of the House, the report said.

There was no official word on the development from the PPP or the presidency.

The move came in the wake of two separate meetings of the PPP’s central executive committee and the leaders of the ruling coalition led by the PPP.

Both meetings had authorised Zardari, the head of the PPP, to choose the new premier. A formal announcement about the nominee for the post of premier is expected after a meeting of the PPP’s parliamentary party scheduled for this afternoon.

Reports said former premier Gilani had expressed reservations over the candidature of Shahabuddin during the meeting of the PPP and its allies last night. Both Gilani and Shahabuddin belong to the southern part of Punjab and political rivalries were believed to be the reason for Gilani’s reservations.

Leaders of parties in the ruling coalition have assured Zardari of their full support for the election of the new premier, sources told PTI. The leaders further advised Zardari not to confront the apex court over the disqualification of Gilani, the sources said.

The PPP has plans to carve a new province out of the Seraiki belt in the southern part of Punjab and this is a reason for Shahabuddin’s emergence as a strong candidate for the post of premier, sources said.

The sources further said Zardari had ruled out the option of calling an early general election following Gilani’s disqualification.

Shahabuddin had yesterday emerged as a strong contender for the post of premier. He has held several portfolios in Gilani’s cabinet since 2008. Besides, the top leadership of the PML-Q, a key ally of the PPP, were opposed to the candidature of former Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar due to political rivalries in Punjab, sources said.

During a revamp of Gilani’s cabinet in February last year, Shahabuddin was tipped to be sworn in as the Foreign Minister. However, the party changed its plans after Shah Mahmood Qureshi skipped the swearing-in ceremony on learning that he would not be reallocated the Foreign Ministry.

Like Gilani, Shahabuddin belongs to a spiritual family that is revered and is the custodian of the mausoleum of the Sufi saint Shah Rukn-e-Alam.

PPP insiders said that some party leaders had also suggested the names of former ministers Hina Rabbani Khar, Khursheed Shah and Samina Ghurki for the post of premier.

However, they were not considered front-runners for the position.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry yesterday disqualified Gilani in response to several petitions that had challenged National Assembly Speaker Fehmida Mirza’s decision not to disqualify the premier following his conviction of contempt.

The bench ruled that the post of premier had been vacant since 26 April, when another seven-judge bench had convicted Gilani of contempt for refusing to reopen graft cases in Switzerland against Zardari.

PTI