PM Gilani to appear in Supreme Court

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani will appear before the Supreme Court on Thursday, Jan 19 accompanied by a team of the governments legal experts, DawnNews reported.

The decision was taken by at a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee of the coalition partners on Monday.

The meeting was attended by Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, Asfandyar Wali, Farooq Sattar, Munir Orakzai, Israrullah Zehri and other leaders of the political parties present in the coalition.

Meanwhile, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Firdous Ashiq Awan, while briefing reporters after the meeting, said the PPP had always respected institutions and believed in the independence of judiciary. She said the prime minister will appear before the court on Jan 19. The government believes in resolving problems through negotiations, she added.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik repeated similar words, saying “We respect the Supreme Court, and will appear before the court whenever summoned.”

“The Prime Minister will appear before the SC on Jan 19,” said Malik.

PM Gilani was issued a contempt of court notice in the NRO implementation case on Monday, and was directed by the SC to appear before the apex court on Jan 19.

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Qamar Zaman Kaira also confirmed that a team of legal experts would accompany the prime minister on Jan 19.

“The coalition parties are with the prime minister,” said Kaira, indicating that the government had the support of its coalition partners. “We will appear before the court to represent our point of view,” he added.

Coalition partners had advised the prime minister to appear before the apex court. In a meeting also attended by President Asif Ali Zardari, the coalition partners also advised the premier to avoid policies of confrontation and play his role to eradicate tension between the institutions.