Zardari left exposed as immunity pact lapses today

Ayesha Nasir

• Last Updated: November 27. 2009 9:20PM UAE / November 27. 2009 5:20PM GMT

LAHORE // In the span of less than two years, Asif Ali Zardari has gone from being Mr Ten Per Cent to becoming Mr President and more recently Mr NRO, a sarcastic reference to the decree which may well mark his downfall.

The expiry today of a pact that had awarded Mr Zardari and thousands of other politicians, civil servants and businessmen immunity from corruption charges is yet another blow to the already tottering Pakistan People’s Party-led government, analysts and opposition leaders say.

“Mr Zardari is on a suicidal mission and is wilfully firing off missiles at himself and his government,” said a gleeful Marvi Memon, a parliamentarian and vocal member of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid. “His policies have harmed Pakistan’s security and sovereignty and now they will harm him.”

The highly controversial decree, titled the National Reconciliation Ordinance, was signed between ex-president Pervez Musharraf and the late Benazir Bhutto. The NRO allowed Bhutto, then in exile, to return home without fear of being prosecuted on corruption charges.

The text of the NRO read that it was meant to “promote national reconciliation, foster mutual trust and confidence amongst holders of public office and remove the vestiges of political vendetta and victimisation”.

More than two years after it was passed, it has come back to haunt Mr Zardari, the PPP, and the more than 8,000 people known to have benefited from it. The issue heated up a few months ago when the Supreme Court gave parliament a deadline of 120 days to ratify the decree.

Nawaz Sharif, the president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, launched a vigorous campaign against ratifying the NRO. Together with the politician Imran Khan, he was able to convince the media and the opposition that the NRO was a deal made for the wrong reasons and should not be ratified.

Ahmed Kurd, a lawyer who has been a vocal opponent of the decree, said: “When bringing the NRO to the parliament, the president forgot that the Pakistan of today is not the Pakistan of yesterday. This is a new and modern Pakistan and corruption is not acceptable here.”

Under the NRO, two main laws were amended. The first was the Criminal Code of Procedure, which was amended to withdraw all cases filed by the government between January 1, 1986 and October 12, 1999, when Mr Musharraf staged a coup. The National Accountability Ordinance was changed as well to make convictions in cases dealing with events before the coup, in which the accused were tried in absentia, redundant, and to bring to a halt investigations into the pre-coup shenanigans of politicians and officials.

Mr Zardari is among the beneficiaries of the decree, whose names were made public last week after pressure from civil society and parliament. He has been accused of, among other things, money laundering and illegally constructing a polo ground in the prime minister’s house. Other prominent names on the list include Aftab Ahmed Sherpao, a former chief minister of the North-West Frontier Province; Jehangir Badar, a PPP stalwart in Lahore; and Ahmed Mukhtar, a former minister for commerce and industry.

The accused have been quick to defend themselves. In an interview, Mr Sherpao said he had been shocked by the inclusion of his name in the list. He said he was willing to go to court to defend himself, an assertion being made by many of those whose names are on the list. Mr Badar held a press conference to rebut the accusations. “The cases mentioned in the NRO aren’t genuine – they were all politically motivated,” he said.

Many believe little will come of the lapse of the NRO. “I personally feel there are going to be no trials or tribulations. It will all just die out,”said Najam Sethi, the editor of the Lahore-based weekly Friday Times.

Others, like the columnist Asadullah Ghalib, believe the issue will at least make it difficult for the PPP government to continue.

Despite speculation about Mr Zardari’s future, most legal experts believe the president is safe – at least while he holds the country’s highest office. Article 248 of the constitution gives Mr Zardari presidential immunity.

However some, like Qazi Anwar of the Supreme Court Bar Association, said the immunity is only for cases relating to the use of his presidential powers: previous cases can be opened up even while he is in office. “The immunity doesn’t provide a blanket cover,” he said.

With the expiry of the deadline given by the Supreme Court for ratifying the NRO, the future of the government and the NRO is in the hands of the chief justice, Iftikhar Muhammed Chaudhary – a man who is far from being a PPP crony.

foreigndesk@thenational.ae