PAKISTANI COURT ORDERS PM’S ARREST AS PROTESTERS REMAIN DEFIANT

PAKISTAN’S Chief Justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, has ordered the arrest of Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf over graft allegations.

The development threatened to worsen turmoil in the country as thousands of protesters in Islamabad demanded the government step down. Raja Pervez Ashraf.

According to a report by Agence France Presse (AFP) Chaudhry ordered officials to arrest 16 people accused of corruption in power generation projects in 2010, including Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf.

The Supreme Court order came as protesters led by populist cleric, Tahir-ul Qadri, massed near parliament on the third day of a march, calling for the immediate dissolution of the government.

A general election is due to be held by mid-May. But Qadri wants a caretaker government set up immediately, in consultation with the military and the judiciary, to implement key reforms before the polls are held.

Critics see his demands as a ploy by elements of the establishment, particularly the armed forces, to delay the elections and sow political chaos in the nuclear-armed state, which was ruled by the military for decades.

Security officials estimated the size of the Islamabad crowd at between 25,000 and 50,000, which would make it the largest political protest in the capital since the government led by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) was elected in 2008.

Meanwhile, opposition politician, Imran Khan, called on President Asif Ali Zardari to resign immediately and for the government to announce a date for elections.

The Supreme Court order signed by the chief justice, who has been at loggerheads for years with Zardari’s government, will heighten an already febrile political atmosphere.

Analysts said the ruling would not force Ashraf out of office. But they warned that even if the timing was a coincidence, coming at the time of the protest, it would fuel rumours about a judicial-military conspiracy.

The court order instructed officials to arrest “without any hesitation” those accused in the case, and for the chairman and officials from the National Accountability Bureau corruption watchdog to report to the court tomorrow.

Qadri’s supporters, digging in for the long haul with stocks of food and bedding, cheered and danced when told of the order against Ashraf.

“This is our first victory. We will stay here until all our demands are met,” Qadri’s deputy Sadiq Qureshi told the crowd.

The main index of the Karachi Stock Exchange fell sharply on news of the court order, losing nearly three per cent in a little over half an hour. Markets closed early and people went home in panic in parts of the city, which has a tradition of unrest.

Ashraf took office last June when the Supreme Court threw his predecessor, Yousuf Raza Gilani, out of office and convicted him of contempt for refusing to ask Swiss authorities to reopen corruption cases against the president.

Under the constitution, people convicted of certain crimes cannot be members of parliament. But senior lawyer, Salman Akram Raja, said the arrest order against Ashraf would not necessarily bring him down.

“Raja Pervez Ashraf can remain prime minister even after his arrest,” Raja told Geo television