Parliament shall prevail: Sharif

A defiant looking Sharif said, “nobody can stop parliament from performing its functions.”

Speaking after a lengthy parliamentary party meeting of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League and its allies at Parliament House, he said, “parliament’s legislative rights have been hindered.”

“Despite my heavy mandate I wanted to follow a conciliatory approach and because of that I cancelled my address to the nation,” the Premier said.Sources said several MPs urged the prime minister not to let Parliament be marginalised by the current situation.

His statement late on Monday came six days after Army Chief General Jehangir Karamat stepped in to stop a parliamentary move to impeach President Farooq Ahmed Leghari in a new twist to a crippling political and judicial crisis.

The Premier’s comment indicated “pessimism” over his efforts to heal the rift with the two key organs of state, a Western observer remarked.

Karamat met for two hours on Monday with Leghari and press reports said the discussions focussed on ways to thwart a head-on collision between the judiciary and Parliament.

The general’s mediation had earlier foiled a showdown that loomed last week as Leghari refused to sign a law hurriedly passed by Parliament to give the Prime Minister right of appeal if he is convicted in a contempt of court case.

The amendment if signed into law would stop any conviction by the Supreme Court from being implemented until a full court had ruled on his appeal.Sharif, several of his deputies and Cabinet colleagues were formally charged with contempt for allegedly ridiculing the judiciary in an earlier row with Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah over his demand to promote five High Court judges to the Supreme Court.

However, the crisis apparently cooled down after the Army chief’s conciliatory role and the Supreme Court last Wednesday adjourned proceedings in the contempt case until November 28.

If convicted Sharif could be disqualified from holding a public office which could also lead to the collapse of his nine-month old government.