Islamabad, January 27: The Pakistani government will be ready to go on with legal steps against President Asif Ali Zardari if Parliament decides to withdraw his immunity, the Prime Minister says.
“The government is working on the resumption of corruption cases in Swiss courts as per Supreme Court’s judgment, but the President enjoys the immunity under the Constitution and it will be intact until the Parliament wants it to remain there,” Yousuf Raza Gilani told Parliament on Wednesday, the Press TV correspondent reported.
The country’s top court last year overturned former president Pervez Musharraf’s National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) which had dropped corruption charges against Zardari.
The court asked the federal authorities to contact Swiss judiciary officials for the resumption of legal steps in Swiss courts to bring the money allegedly embezzled by some Pakistani politicians, including President Zardari, back to the country.
He assured the House that the government has due respect for judiciary and would implement the Supreme Court’s verdict on NRO.
Zardari is under pressure to step down with his government haunted by allegations of corruption.
Following the Supreme Court ruling, senior members of Pakistan’s ruling party have been ordered to appear before court.
Pakistan’s anti-corruption court in the southern city of Karachi has subpoenaed 52 government officials, including high-ranking ones. Prosecutors say, among the top officials are Interior Minister Rehman Malik and Presidential Secretary Salman Farooqi.
——Agencies