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WEEKLY
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| Gilani serves notice on NRO-tainted cabinet members |
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Saturday, November 21, 2009
By Rauf Klasra
ISLAMABAD: The emotional and unexpected outburst of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to resign in case it was established that his wife was one of the beneficiaries of the NRO, is said to have stained all those top guns of the PPP government, who are facing the looming threat of reopening of their cases after November 28.
Sources close to PM Gilani claimed that his ‘intended message’ was loud and clear: it is time for the NRO beneficiaries to step down graciously. When asked why the PM simply did not ask for such cabinet members’ resignations, the source said that the PM wanted to get the right results without rocking the political boat too much.
The PM’s terse reaction to his wife’s wrongful inclusion in the NRO beneficiaries list clearly demonstrated his strong aversion to the infamous ordinance and that was why, sources maintained, when he found a chance to go public against this law, he did not waste the chance and openly distanced himself from the NRO and its beneficiaries.
One source said Gilani might have gained more public respect by making the offer to resign, but this was not taken in good spirit within the ranks of the party, as it had emerged that what to talk of others, even the PM of the party was not ready to own the NRO.
The sources said one minister of state dealing with the lists of NRO had actually created this huge mess and embarrassment for PM Gilani as in the heat of emotions he committed some blunders, which were now being investigated and this minister might be shown the door in the coming cabinet reshuffle.
The sources said Gilani’s outburst against the NRO also established one thing that Benazir Bhutto had never consulted the senior party leaders like Yousuf Raza Gilani at the time of promulgation of this ordinance.
A former PPP senator Enver Baig defended the decision of Benazir Bhutto to get NRO promulgated by arguing that she only wanted to use the NRO to the extent of securing a safe return passage to Pakistan. She did not move the local courts to get relief under NRO on her return.
Baig claimed that courts had failed to convict Benazir Bhutto and Asif Zardari because of lack of evidence for 10 long years and that was why she was in a good position to get justice from the courts.
He said Ms Bhutto might have preferred going to the SC instead of asking her lawyers to move applications in the courts under the NRO to get clean chits. Baig said we should not take Benazir wrong as far as NRO was considered and that was why she had gone to the residence of suspended chief justice Iftikar Chaudhary notwithstanding the fact that he had already initiated an action against NRO.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
