New Delhi:
The current political crisis in Pakistan places the civil government in danger. President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani are confronting an angry judiciary and army. Here's the crisis broken down:
1. Why the Supreme Court's angry: The court has been asking for corruption cases against President Zardari, other politicians and bureaucrats to be re-opened. Mr Gilani has not obliged. President Zardari says he and others were granted amnesty through the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) of 2007. The Supreme Court says that in 2009, it had ordered that this amnesty should end.
2. Contempt notice and summons to Gilani: Because the government failed to file a formal statement today in court on its stand on the graft cases, the Supreme Court has issued a contempt of court notice to Mr Gilani and ordered him to appear in court on Thursday. The Prime Minister has agreed to appear personally.
3. Gilani's strategy: Sources say that the government did not want to take a position in the Supreme Court till a vote of confidence is held this evening in parliament. Mr Gilani has asked opposition parties to support his government and positioned this as a test of "democracy vs dictatorship." The resolution that will be voted on today seeks to establish the supremacy of parliament over the executive and judiciary. The ruling PPP coalition has the numbers to survive today's trust vote.
4. Constitutional coup: The Supreme Court's actions today, and its comments last week that Mr Gilani is a dishonest man, have led to talk of a "constitutional coup" - the government could be dismissed by the Supreme Court. The government's critics say that it is corrupt and that it needs to implement court orders.
5. Why the army's upset: That boils down to memo-gate. In October last year, a Pakistani-American businessman named Mansoor Ijaz said that he had delivered a memo that asked for US assistance against a military coup in the weeks after the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
6. Mr Ijaz says this memo was written by ex-ambassador to the US, Hussain Haqqani on behalf of President Zardari. Though Mr Haqqani denies this version of events, he has resigned and now lives within the premises of the Prime Minister's residence for security reasons.
7. Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and ISI chief Lt General Ahmed Shuja Pasha have asked the Supreme Court for "a forensic examination" of memo-gate. The government says a parliamentary inquiry should be the only route of investigation. The Supreme Court will decide if the government commissioned the memo, and whether it has the right to remain in power.The memo was delivered to then US chief of staff, Mike Mullen, who says that though he did receive the memo, he did not take it seriously.
8. Last week, Mr Gilani told Chinese media that the chiefs of the army and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) had acted in an "unconstitutional and illegal "manner while making submissions to the Supreme Court on the Memogate scandal. He said no institution could act as "a state within the state." In retaliation, the army warned of serious consequences to Mr Gilani's statement.
9. Mr Ijaz has delayed his return to Pakistan to testify in the Supreme Court on Memogate. His lawyers have sought an extension for his appearance in court till Thursday; they say he has received threats. He has been ordered by the Supreme Court to testify on January 26.
10. Blackberry Data: The memo was reportedly drafted on Blackberry messenger exchanges between Mr Ijaz and Mr Haqqani. The Supreme Court-appointed commission handling memo-gate has called for these records. But Blackberry today refused to provide the data in the public domain.
1. Why the Supreme Court's angry: The court has been asking for corruption cases against President Zardari, other politicians and bureaucrats to be re-opened. Mr Gilani has not obliged. President Zardari says he and others were granted amnesty through the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) of 2007. The Supreme Court says that in 2009, it had ordered that this amnesty should end.
2. Contempt notice and summons to Gilani: Because the government failed to file a formal statement today in court on its stand on the graft cases, the Supreme Court has issued a contempt of court notice to Mr Gilani and ordered him to appear in court on Thursday. The Prime Minister has agreed to appear personally.
3. Gilani's strategy: Sources say that the government did not want to take a position in the Supreme Court till a vote of confidence is held this evening in parliament. Mr Gilani has asked opposition parties to support his government and positioned this as a test of "democracy vs dictatorship." The resolution that will be voted on today seeks to establish the supremacy of parliament over the executive and judiciary. The ruling PPP coalition has the numbers to survive today's trust vote.
4. Constitutional coup: The Supreme Court's actions today, and its comments last week that Mr Gilani is a dishonest man, have led to talk of a "constitutional coup" - the government could be dismissed by the Supreme Court. The government's critics say that it is corrupt and that it needs to implement court orders.
5. Why the army's upset: That boils down to memo-gate. In October last year, a Pakistani-American businessman named Mansoor Ijaz said that he had delivered a memo that asked for US assistance against a military coup in the weeks after the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
6. Mr Ijaz says this memo was written by ex-ambassador to the US, Hussain Haqqani on behalf of President Zardari. Though Mr Haqqani denies this version of events, he has resigned and now lives within the premises of the Prime Minister's residence for security reasons.
7. Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and ISI chief Lt General Ahmed Shuja Pasha have asked the Supreme Court for "a forensic examination" of memo-gate. The government says a parliamentary inquiry should be the only route of investigation. The Supreme Court will decide if the government commissioned the memo, and whether it has the right to remain in power.The memo was delivered to then US chief of staff, Mike Mullen, who says that though he did receive the memo, he did not take it seriously.
8. Last week, Mr Gilani told Chinese media that the chiefs of the army and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) had acted in an "unconstitutional and illegal "manner while making submissions to the Supreme Court on the Memogate scandal. He said no institution could act as "a state within the state." In retaliation, the army warned of serious consequences to Mr Gilani's statement.
9. Mr Ijaz has delayed his return to Pakistan to testify in the Supreme Court on Memogate. His lawyers have sought an extension for his appearance in court till Thursday; they say he has received threats. He has been ordered by the Supreme Court to testify on January 26.
10. Blackberry Data: The memo was reportedly drafted on Blackberry messenger exchanges between Mr Ijaz and Mr Haqqani. The Supreme Court-appointed commission handling memo-gate has called for these records. But Blackberry today refused to provide the data in the public domain.
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