PM Ashraf gets 3-week breathing space

Pakistan

PM Ashraf gets 3-week breathing space

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PM Ashraf is the second sitting prime minister summoned by the Supreme Court in less than a year.

27 August,2012 09:26 am

Supreme Court on Monday gave Prime Minister Raja Parvez Ashraf another three weeks time to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari, after the premier appeared in person and requested a delay.A five-member bench headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa set September 18 as deadline for PMAshraf to ask the Swiss authorities to relaunch the cases after he sought four to six weeks to find a way to resolve the matter.Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf is facing contempt of court for refusing to write to Swiss authorities for reopening graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.The court had given Ashraf until August 8 to write to Switzerland and last week struck down a new law passed by parliament that sought to exempt members of the government from contempt trials, clearing the way for legal proceedings against the premier.The government has resisted demands to have Asif Ali Zardari investigated, arguing that as head of state he enjoys immunity.The allegations against Zardari date back to the 1990s, when he and his wife, late premier Benazir Bhutto, were suspected of using Swiss bank accounts to launder $12 million allegedly paid in bribes by companies seeking customs inspection contracts.The Swiss shelved the cases in 2008 when Zardari became president and the government insists the president has full immunity as head of state.But in 2009 the Supreme Court overturned a political amnesty that had frozen investigations into the president and other politicians, ordering that the cases be reopened.