KHI 28-11-2011_Layout 1 11/28/2011 2:24 AM Page 4
04 News
Monday, 28 November, 2011
Fate of NRO beneficiaries remains uncertain
ex-CJ says politicians who got cases cleared via political connections may be prosecuted g Most NrO beneficiaries are bureaucrats and government officials g
ISLAMABAD MIAN ABRAR
A
LTHOUGH the Supreme Court has thrown out the government’s petitions in the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) review case, the fate of the NRO beneficiaries still remains uncertain as the government is in no mood to take action against them because most of them are affiliated with political parties that are currently part of the coalition government. Though some influential politicians have gotten themselves cleared from cases they were facing, the apex court may still order a review of such cases cleared through political clout. The promulgation of the controversial law on October 5, 2007 had benefited most of the country’s top politicians belonging to two major political parties: the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). However, when the Supreme Court later termed the NRO null and void in 2009, some smart politicians, including Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Agha Siraj Durrani, Salman Farooqui, some of the MQM leaders and others, chose to get their cases cleared from lower courts where their political clout and ministerial portfolios would command sufficient authority. EX-CJ: Former chief justice Saeed-uz-Zaman Siddiqi says the politicians in question could be prosecuted by the court under Article 184/3 of the constitution. “I suppose that the apex court has already taken notice of such cases under which influential politicians have gotten the benefit of their positions and they have been cleared by courts as the prosecutors refused to contest the cases and said they had no evidence against them. I think the court has already formed a
commission to review all such cases in which shady characters have been cleared,” he added. Interestingly, the list release by Mohammed Afzal Sindu, the minister of state for law at the time the NRO was nullified who was later sacked by President Asif Ali Zardari for following Supreme Court orders, contained the breakdown of only those withdrawn cases that pertained to the MQM. The document is silent about the number of cases registered against PPP beneficiaries. MOST BENEFICIARIES: Most of the NRO beneficiaries have been bureaucrats and government officials according to a list released by the Law Ministry on November 21, 2009, containing the names of only 34 politicians out of a total of 8,041. According to the list, prominent leaders and bureaucrats who enjoyed immunity under the NRO included slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, President Zardari, Rehman Malik, the late Nusrat Bhutto, former minister Yousuf Talpur, PPP Secretary General Jehangir Badr and Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani, among others. Almost 97 percent of the beneficiaries hail from Sindh, seeing as top politicians from the PPP and MQM – both majority parties from rural and urban parts of Sindh – benefited from the law the most. Leaders from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Awami National Party (ANP) were also among the NRO beneficiaries, said the list. The list shows that around 3,478 cases were withdrawn against the NRO beneficiaries out of which 3,320 cases were withdrawn by the Sindh government. The cases that were withdrawn were registered on charges of corruption, financial bungling, misuse of authority and criminal charges.
ZARDARI: President Zardari enjoys immunity under Article 248 of the constitution and, according to legal experts, cannot be prosecuted for new or old cases against him as long as he is the president. However, despite the court verdict, some experts say that relief once granted cannot be reversed under the law. The list showed that MQM chief Altaf Hussain had been spared in the highest number of cases, 72, including 31 murder and 11 attempted murder charges. Dr Farooq Sattar, the MQM’s parliamentary leader, came in second. A total of 23 cases were withdrawn against him, including five murder cases and four attempted murder cases. The third biggest beneficiary appeared to be Provincial Minister Shoaib Bukhari of the MQM, against whom 21 cases were withdrawn, including 16 murder and attempted murder charges. Federal Minister for Ports and Shipping Babar Ghouri, Sindh Governor Ishratul ebad, Saleem Shahzad, Waseem Akhtar and former MNA Kunwar Khalid Yunus were other prominent MQM leaders who benefited from the NRO, according to the list. Among the beneficiaries from the PPP were Interior Minister Malik, who later got all his cases cleared from the courts, Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, who claims he did not get relief from the NRO, Nawab Yousuf Talpur, Mir Baz Khetran, Sindh Provincial Minister Agha Siraj Durrani and Senator Jehangir Badar. Although PML-N President Nawaz Sharif has been claiming that no member of his party benefited from the NRO, the list showed that at least five PML-N members had, namely MNA Chaudhry Shaukat Ali, Rana Nazir Ahmed, former MNAs Chaudhry Abdul Hameed and Haji Kabir and
former MPA Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali. In November 2009, the PPP government did not present a list of beneficiaries of the NRO in the National Assembly despite a promise made by the prime minister to that effect. The list also had names of around 5,800 people who were accused of financial irregularities and criminal cases. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had also prepared a fresh list of 233 cases of financial irregularities against 248 people that were withdrawn or disposed of under the NRO, said media reports. Original lists submitted by the provincial governments and the NAB to the federal government involved Rs 708 billion siphoned off through kickbacks, corruption and misuse of authority. Almost all the cases were settled or closed after February 5, 2008. eight cases against President Zardari were disposed of under the NRO. The charges concerned kickbacks from the SGS PSI company, grant of licence to ARY Gold, alleged corruption in purchase of Ursus tractors under Awami Tractor Scheme, award of pre-shipment contract to Cotecna, assets beyond means, kickbacks received from former Pakistan Steel Mills chairman Sajjad Ahmed, construction of a polo ground at PM’s House and money laundering in the SGS Swiss case. The Ursus tractors case against his co-accused Nawab Yousaf Talpur was also disposed of. Ten bureaucrats from Balochistan, mostly belonging to Revenue, Water and Customs Departments, also benefited from the NRO. It is unclear whether cases against Nawaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and PML-N leader Ishaq Dar, including the Hudaibya Paper Mills case, were settled under the NRO or are still pending in court.
2 killed in separate incidents LAhORE: Two persons including a trader and a cable operator were murdered in two different areas of the city on Sunday. Azhar Saeed, a 35-year-old trader of Shah Alam Market, was gunned down by two unidentified men over reasons yet to be known in the Mochi Gate Police precincts. Two unknown motorcyclists approached Azhar and opened fire on him. Locals of the area took Azhar to a nearby hospital, however he succumbed to his bullet injuries on the way to the hospital. The Mochi Gate Police started investigation into the incident. In another incident, Sher Jaan, a 25year-old cable operator and resident of Farooq Gunj, was shot dead, while his friend Kaleem sustained bullet injuries in the Misri Shah Police precincts. STAFF REPORT
SELLING BEACH-WASTE: A boy scavenges amongst waste dumped at Karachi beach. ONLINE
Qureshi joining pTI a serious blow to pML-N LAHORE YASIR HABIB
The Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) has suffered a severe blow after former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi jumped onto Imran Khan’s bandwagon instead of honouring Nawaz Sharif’s invitation. Both the PML-N and the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) had been inviting Qureshi to their parties for several months. Nawaz was seriously attempting to woo Qureshi to join his party, while Imran had announced earlier that Qureshi would join him on November 27. The former foreign minister kept the sus-
pense alive until Sunday, when he embraced Imran Khan at an impressive public meeting in Ghotki. Qureshi, who holds strong political influence in south Punjab, has minimised the PML-N’s prospects in the region. Qureshi’s decision must have disappointed Nawaz, who had been quite optimistic that the former Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) stalwart would join him. A senior PML-N leader said the Sharifs did not have anything substantial to offer Qureshi. “Qureshi often hinted at his demands, but was not responded to well. Hence he joined the PTI for a better political future,” he said. Accord-
Shah Mehmood Qureshi joins pTI Continued from page 1 He said the PPP’s founding chairman Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was a son of Sindh and he came out before the people of Pakistan when the members of the National Assembly did not listen to him. He said the Sindhis were the people who had passed the first resolution for the establishment of Pakistan in the Sindh Assembly. The former foreign minister said the convoy that started from Multan would go all the way and topple the “pharaoh” in Islamabad. He also said all eyes were on Imran Khan because the
nation was looking for a leader to lead from the front and make the country prosperous. “I am embarking on a new journey and from today onwards, Shah Mehmood is part of your team,” he told Khan to thunderous applause. earlier, addressing the same gathering, Imran Khan had invited the former foreign minister to join his party. Commenting on the NATO attack in Mohmand Agency, the PTI chairman urged the government to pull out of the US-led war on terror. He said Qureshi’s entry into his party would be useful for the country.
ing to a close aide to Qureshi, the former minister initially had no plans to join the PTI as he was contemplating two other options – forming his own party or joining the PMLN. Sources privy to the developments called it a “half victory”. Reacting to Qureshi’s decision, PML-N Information Secretary Mashahidullah Khan said his party happily accepted Qureshi’s decision and wished him the best of luck. “Shah Mehmood Qureshi is a political worker and a civilised person and with his joining the PTI, it is believed that Imran Khan and his party members would learn how to behave as a political party,” he added.
Pakistan to revisit engagement with NATO, ISAF: PM ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said Pakistan will revisit its engagement with NATO and International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in the backdrop of Mohmand Agency incident. In an interview to a private television, the Prime Minister said that the Parliament’s Committee on National Security has been assigned to probe the memorandum issue. About the appointment of Sherry Rehman as ambassador to the United States, he said the decision was taken first by the party and later he had backed it. APP
pakistan refuses to unblock NATO supply Continued from page 1 The NATO leaders said investigations would be made into the attack and Islamabad should not block supplies to the coalition forces fighting in Afghanistan against the Taliban insurgents. Pakistan has not only blocked the NATO supplies to Afghanistan but has also asked the US to vacate the secretive Shamsi airbase within 15 days. A joint statement by US Secretary of Defence Leon Panetta and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who offered their condolences for the loss of life, backed an investigation into the incident and stressed the importance of the US-Pakistani partner-
ship. “Instead of accepting the US and NATO request for allowing the supplies to Afghanistan for the coalition forces, Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar conveyed to them the deep sense of rage felt by the Pakistani people over the killing of at least 24 soldiers in a cross-border air strike by NATO aircraft from Afghanistan,” said a Pakistani diplomat here who asked not to be identified by name. He said the foreign minister told her counterparts from Washington and other NATO capitals that first there must be a formal apology from them over the
killings followed by a thorough investigation into the incident and stern punishment to the people responsible for it. Only then would Pakistan decide what to do, she added. A statement issued here by the Foreign Office said Khar told Clinton that the incident had forced Pakistan to revisit the terms of its engagement with Washington. In her conversation with Secretary Clinton, Khar said: “The incident negates the progress made by the two countries on improving relations and forces Pakistan to revisit the terms of engagement.” Khar said that attacks like the one in Mohmand were
“totally unacceptable”. “They demonstrate complete disregard for international law and human life, and are in stark violation of Pakistani sovereignty,” she said. She told Secretary Clinton about the Defence Committee of the Cabinet (DCC)’s decisions to stop NATO supply routes and that the US should vacate the Shamsi airbase within 15 days. Clinton said she was deeply saddened by the event and conveyed the US government’s desire to work with Pakistan to resolve the issue. Khar also spoke to British Foreign Secretary William Hague on Saturday night to convey the decisions taken by the DCC. She told
him of the deep sense of anger prevailing in Pakistan over the unprovoked attacks by NATO. Hague expressed grief at the loss of life. German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle also telephoned Khar to express support and solidarity with the people and government of Pakistan. He said the NATO/ISAF attack was unacceptable and supported a full investigation. The German foreign minister said his country was fully aware of Pakistan’s sacrifices and contributions. He hoped that the incident would not affect political cooperation. Khar briefed him on the gravity of the situa-
tion created by the attacks and its repercussions. She also briefed him on the DCC decisions. AFGhAN GOVT: Pakistan has also protested to the Afghan government over the attacks. Foreign Office Spokeswoman Tehmina Janjua said the protest underscored that the use of Afghan territory against Pakistan by NATO/ISAF was also a violation of ISAF’s mandate for operations in Afghanistan. “Afghanistan should take necessary measures to ensure that such acts are not carried out from its territory against Pakistan,” she said. However, on Pakistan’s par-
ticipation in the Bonn Conference, the spokeswoman clarified that the matter was being examined and no decision had yet been taken in this regard. In a related development, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, a close ally of Pakistan, called Foreign Minister Khar on Saturday night to express solidarity with the people and government of Pakistan in the wake of the attack. Khar thanked Davutoglu and condemned the attacks. Davutoglu assured Khar that Turkey, as a member of NATO, would ask for an impartial enquiry into the attack.