ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf has asked Swiss authorities to reopen an old corruption case against President Asif Ali Zardari, succumbing to pressure from the country’s increasingly powerful Supreme Court.The court gave Prime Minister Ashraf until Nov. 14 to submit the request, threatening to charge him with contempt of court or face disqualification if he did not comply.The case has fuelled tensions in a long-running standoff between the government and the judiciary. Ashraf’s predecessor, Yusuf Raza Gilani, was declared in contempt of court in June over the same issue and disqualified from holding the post of prime minister.
If Ashraf is disqualified, the ruling Pakistan People’s Party can simply nominate a new prime minister since it has a comfortable majority in parliament.Thousands of corruption cases were thrown out in 2007 by an amnesty law passed under former military president Pervez Musharraf, paving the way for a return to civilian rule.
Two years, later the Supreme Court ruled that agreement illegal, and ordered the reopening of money laundering cases against Zardari that involved Swiss bank accounts. “Now the ball is in the Swiss court and it’s up to Swiss authorities if they want to immediately re-open the cases, or simply bury the case altogether,” said Babar Sattar, a legal commentator.