Federal Cabinet vows backing PM, President

Pakistan

Federal Cabinet vows backing PM, President

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The Federal Cabinet has expressed confidence in the leadership of President Zardari and PM Gilani.

11 January,2012 02:11 pm

The Federal Cabinet Wednesday expressed confidence in the leadership of President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani a day after the Supreme Court warned the Prime Minister of disqualification for failing to act on an earlier court order to reopen graft cases against the President.The Cabinet meeting held under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani at Prime Minister’s Secretariat, an official statement said.The members of the cabinet also offered fateha for the departed souls of Pir Pagaro and MNA Azeem Doltana.The meeting was called to discuss the current confrontation with the Supreme Court as the apex court Tuesday said that action could be taken against Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani for his failure to implement a court ruling to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.The Supreme Court had struck down an amnesty law two years ago that benefited President Zardari and hundreds of politicians and government officials.The National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) had been introduced by former President Pervez Musharraf after a deal with slain Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007.A five-member bench of the Supreme Court said in its order that Gilani was not an “honourable man” as he had not followed his constitutional oath. The verdict said that the Prime Minister had shown loyalty to his political party rather than the Constitution.The government has refused to act on the court’s orders, saying the President enjoys immunity from prosecution under the Constitution. During an interview last week, Zardari made it clear that the government would not approach the Swiss authorities as long as he was in office.The confrontation between the PPP and the judiciary over the NRO comes at a time when the Supreme Court is pressuring the government over an alleged memo that had sought US help to stave off a feared military coup in Pakistan last year.Despite the government’s objections, the court formed a judicial commission to investigate the Memogate scandal.