30 seconds...

On April 26 Pakistanrsquos Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani was ldquofound guilty of and convicted for contempt of courtrdquo till the rising of the court by the Supreme Court of Pakistan As it turned out the lsquoimprisonmentrsquo lasted only for 30 seconds but history was made in that short period for the first time in Pakistanrsquos history a sitting prime minister has been convicted The legal aspects of the Supreme Court judgement are quite complex as was evident from the various interpretations that were being dished out on our television screens That the court mentioned Article 631g in its short order led many to speculate about the prime ministerrsquos disqualification as a member of parliament It said ldquohellipWe note that the findings and the conviction for contempt of court hellip are likely to entail some serious consequences in terms of Article 631g of the Constitution which may be treated as mitigating factors towards the sentence to be passed against him PM Gilanirdquo Dilemma While the courtrsquos decision to convict PM Gilani has set a bad precedent a convicted PM chairing cabinet meetings and attending parliament will not go down well with the opposition Article 631g which pertains to the disqualification for membership of parliament states ldquoA person shall be disqualified from being elected or chosen as and from being a member of the MajliseShoora Parliament if he has been convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction for propagating any opinion or acting in any manner prejudicial to the ideology of Pakistan or the sovereignty integrity or security of Pakistan or morality or the maintenance of public order or the integrity or independence of the judiciary of Pakistan or which defames or brings into ridicule the judiciary or the Armed Forces of Pakistan unless a period of five years has elapsed since his releaserdquo One interpretation of the courtrsquos verdict is that instead of imprisoning him for six months which is the maximum penalty for contempt of court the Supreme Court has handed down a lighter sentence to PM Gilani because his real lsquopenaltyrsquo will be disqualification But the Pakistan Peoplersquos Party PPP is not ready to take this lying down Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan PM Gilanirsquos counsel announced in a press conference that an appeal will be soon be filed by his client Mr Ahsan was also of the view that the charges for which PM Gilani was convicted were never framed in the first place ie ridiculing or scandalisation of the court A legal battle will surely ensue now that the government has decided that PM Gilani does not need to resign on moral grounds While the courtrsquos decision to convict PM Gilani has set a bad precedent a convicted prime minister chairing cabinet meetings and attending sessions of parliament will not go down well with the opposition parties that are already denouncing the prime minister and the PPPled coalition government PMLN chief Mian Nawaz Sharif has asked for PM Gilanirsquos resignation and wants fresh elections to be held as soon as possible If a political crisis is to be averted this suggestion should not be dismissed by the government PM Gilanirsquos days are now numbered one way or the other If the PPP delays his disqualification it will only help the unconstitutional forces to take advantage of the political vacuum mdash something that even Mian Nawaz Sharif alluded to after PM Gilanirsquos conviction Just a day before the court verdict renowned journalist Mr Najam Sethi cautioned all institutions of the state especially the political forces about the repercussions of a confrontation between the executive and the judiciary if the government tried to resist the courtrsquos verdict He made it clear that it would not just hurt the political class but its impact on Pakistanrsquos economy would be disastrous This is something Pakistan can illafford at a time when its economy is already in the doldrums The focus in this entire episode has been more on the lsquoSwiss letterrsquo the National Reconciliation Ordinance NRO PM Gilanirsquos next step protests against the courtrsquos verdict by PPP supporters the PPPrsquos witchhunt by the judiciary and other forces for decades demonisation of the PPP in some sections of the media the reaction of the opposition parties etc In this entire hullabaloo we are ignoring the most important factor a possible nexus between the judiciary and the military It may be difficult for the military to directly intervene but a judicial coup cannot be ruled out under the circumstances Pakistanrsquos politicians must realise that this is not the time to play dirty politics at the cost of democracy Let us hope that sanity prevails amongst the political class before these lsquo30 secondsrsquo lead to a debacle that will haunt us for decades to comeu00a0 The writer is a Pakistani journalist Reach her at mehmalsgmailcom