Don't be fooled by the ISI-sponsored journalists, Prime Minister Gilani!

Reacting to charges of corruption

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has dismissed the chairman of the Pakistan Steel Mills Corporation and asked the interior ministry to probe the charges of corruption made against him in the media. Since the “scandals” aired on the media related also to the PIA and the Pakistan Trading Corporation, he has asked the Auditor General to start investigating his government’s years in power and set aside the investigations focusing on the misdeeds of 15 years ago.

The Steel Mill has been making losses after the tapering off of the international boom triggered by high growth rates in China and India. The Supreme Court quashed its privatisation but the period of boom soon came to an end and the demand for steel went down.

Now the Mill is making losses of approximately two billion rupees a month. No one can honestly say that there is no corruption in a state-owned corporation. But no one can also claim that after sacking its chairman, the steel mill will take off once again. In fact, it is a universal fact that corporations run by the state and prevented from being privatised by courts will go bankrupt sooner or later.
If the interior ministry in fact unearths hanky-panky in the Steel Mill, then the PPP will have to take the rap. It is in this light that the step taken by Mr Gilani should be welcomed. He has set on foot a process that will either doom his government as one that runs on favouritism or will encourage the media that is gunning for his government.

There is no dearth of incompetence, however. The sugar crisis in the country has been mishandled. The bureaucrats reacted stupidly to TV reports and advised raids on the sugar mills. The sector was described as the monopoly of the powerful politicians. After the raids, the government was forced to retreat and say the sugar mills were not to blame. The media had misled the government. And the sugar crisis continues. Let’s hope the Steel Mill probe doesn’t end the same way. (Daily Times)

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Pages from History: Nawaz Sharif versus the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah

BBC World: South Asia

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/34866.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/35468.stm

Protesters halt Pakistani PM court case: 28 November 1997 

Sajjad Ali Shah versus Nawaz Sharif: Pakistan's constitutional crisis 

The trial of Pakistan's Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, has been halted after his supporters forced their way into the Supreme Court building in Islamabad 

Protesters shouted abuse against the Chief Justice, Sajjad Ali Shah, who was hearing a case of contempt of court, which could lead to the Prime Minister's disqualification if he is found guilty. The court adjourned for the day. 

The protest is the latest twist in the country's constitutional crisis, which started over the appointment of five new judges to the Supreme Court. 

Mr Ali Shah charged Mr Sharif with contempt after his outspoken criticism of the candidates. Mr Sharif responded by trying to remove him from office. 

The two men are under considerable pressure from the country's powerful armed forces to resolve the situation constitutionally. 

Mr Ali Shah's position in the court has become increasingly uncertain after an internal struggle emerged in the Supreme Court over his status. Four of his fellow judges in two separate hearings ruled he was suspended from office because he was not the most senior judge when he was appointed. 

Nawaz Sharif's supporters halted his court hearing

Friday's trouble started when one of Mr Sharif's Members of Parliament climbed over the gates in front of the court to get inside. 

A crowd of a few hundred party supporters then began to follow him and, as the police and the security forces in riot gear stood by and did nothing, they pushed open the gates and ran into the court compound. 

A few members of the crowd got into the court building and ran to windows and onto the roof of the entrance, chanting slogans against the Chief Justice. 

Amid the commotion a court official ran to the courtroom and said the Chief Justice was in danger. The judges immediately adjourned proceedings and left the room.

The attack on the Supreme Court

Pakistan grappled with its worst-ever constitutional crisis when an unruly mob stormed into the supreme court, forcing Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah to adjourn the contempt of court case against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Hundreds of Pakistan Muslim League supporters and members of its youth wing, the Muslim Students Front (MSF), breached the police cordon around the courthouse when defence lawyer S.M. Zafar was arguing his case.

A journalist rushed into the courtroom and warned the bench of an impending attack. Whereupon, the chief justice got up abruptly, thanked Zafar and adjourned the hearing. While judicial members left the courtroom soon after, the mob entered it shouting slogans, and damaged furniture.

The unruly mob, led by ruling party member from Punjab Sardar Naseem and Colonel (retired) Mushtaq Tahir Kheli, Sharif's political secretary, chanted slogans against the chief justice. The mob also beat up Pakistan Peoples Party senator Iqbal Haider. The police managed to restore normalcy after baton charging and teargassing the mob, both inside and outside the courthouse. The court which assembled at 9:45 a.m., could continue the proceedings for only about 45 minutes.

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