Islamabad:
The Supreme Court of Pakistan is scheduled to take evidence today and assess it tomorrow in the contempt of court case against Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.
If convicted, Mr. Gilani could be imprisoned for six months and face possible removal from office after being disqualified from holding public office for five years.
Mr. Gilani was indicted for contempt of court on February 13 this year for refusing to act on the Supreme Court's orders to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari. A two-page chargesheet against the PM, was signed by all seven judges of the bench and read out in court.
Mr. Gilani has the opportunity to fight the charges against him.
He had said in an interview to Al Jazeera TV earlier this month that if convicted, he would resign. However, legal experts point out that the President has the power to pardon him if he is convicted.
The government is hanging by a thread, but Mr. Gilani and his ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP) have clearly decided to battle this out. Mr. Gilani refused the opportunity to make peace with the Supreme Court by writing to Swiss authorities to reopen graft cases against Mr. Zardari.
Analysts say the PPP will look to somehow stretch matters till the first week of March when elections to the senate or upper house will be held. The ruling party reportedly calculates that it can win the senate elections and then call for early general elections. Senate elections will be held on March 2.
There has been talk of the names of possible replacements being discussed if Mr. Gilani has to step down.
On February 10, Pakistan's top court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, dealt a major blow to Mr. Gilani by rejecting his appeal against framing of contempt charges over his failure to act on its repeated orders to revive cases of alleged money laundering against Asif Ali Zardari in Switzerland. Mr. Gilani has said the government cannot reopen the cases against the President because he enjoys complete immunity in Pakistan and abroad.
Refusing to buy his arguments, the court told Mr. Gilani that he had no option but to write to Swiss authorities to revive graft cases against Mr. Zardari as no one was above the law.
If convicted, Mr. Gilani could be imprisoned for six months and face possible removal from office after being disqualified from holding public office for five years.
Mr. Gilani was indicted for contempt of court on February 13 this year for refusing to act on the Supreme Court's orders to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari. A two-page chargesheet against the PM, was signed by all seven judges of the bench and read out in court.
Mr. Gilani has the opportunity to fight the charges against him.
He had said in an interview to Al Jazeera TV earlier this month that if convicted, he would resign. However, legal experts point out that the President has the power to pardon him if he is convicted.
The government is hanging by a thread, but Mr. Gilani and his ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP) have clearly decided to battle this out. Mr. Gilani refused the opportunity to make peace with the Supreme Court by writing to Swiss authorities to reopen graft cases against Mr. Zardari.
Analysts say the PPP will look to somehow stretch matters till the first week of March when elections to the senate or upper house will be held. The ruling party reportedly calculates that it can win the senate elections and then call for early general elections. Senate elections will be held on March 2.
There has been talk of the names of possible replacements being discussed if Mr. Gilani has to step down.
On February 10, Pakistan's top court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, dealt a major blow to Mr. Gilani by rejecting his appeal against framing of contempt charges over his failure to act on its repeated orders to revive cases of alleged money laundering against Asif Ali Zardari in Switzerland. Mr. Gilani has said the government cannot reopen the cases against the President because he enjoys complete immunity in Pakistan and abroad.
Refusing to buy his arguments, the court told Mr. Gilani that he had no option but to write to Swiss authorities to revive graft cases against Mr. Zardari as no one was above the law.
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
