ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s top court yesterday threatened the government with contempt proceedings, after rejecting a draft letter to Swiss prosecutors that ministers hoped would end a legal wrangle over graft cases against the president.
The government finally agreed to write to the Swiss authorities last week about multimillion dollar corruption allegations against President Asif Ali Zardari after nearly three years of resisting court orders to do so.
But yesterday the Supreme Court said the draft letter prepared by Law Minister Farooq Naek was unsatisfactory and gave him until October 5 to make changes.
Judge Asif Saeed Khosa warned if the court’s objections were not answered by October 5, it may launch contempt proceedings.
No details of the content of the letter or the court’s objections have been revealed.
Former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani was thrown out of office in June after being convicted of contempt for refusing to write to the Swiss.
“We will act in the light of the court’s observations. We hope the matter will be resolved amicably. Whatever the issue is it will be resolved in accordance with law and the constitution,” Naek said after the hearing.
Until its climbdown last week, the government argued it was unable to write to the Swiss as Zardari enjoys complete immunity from prosecution as head of state.
The allegations against Zardari date back to the 1990s, when he and his late wife, former premier Benazir Bhutto, are suspected of using Swiss bank accounts to launder $12m in alleged kickbacks from companies.
The saga has roiled nuclear-armed Pakistan’s political scene at a time when the country is struggling with Islamist militancy and a weak economy.
There were fears it would bring down the coalition government led by the Pakistan Peoples Party, which is on course to become the first elected administration in the country’s history to complete a full five-year term.
AFP
