Former Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani is no more disqualified to contest the election in Pakistan because he has completed his disqualification period very patiently and bravely. He neither filed review petition nor made any protest on this punishment.PPP activists including Khawaja Rizwan Alam, Dr.Javed Siddiqui Ex-MPA, Malik Nasim Labar, M.Salim Raja,Rao Sajid,Rauf Lodhi,Malik Bashir Ahmed, Ch.Muhammad Yasin, Abdul Haq Khan, Zafar Butt,Kashif warsi, Mehboob Alam,Waqas Khan, Baba Zaheer, Muhammad Iqbal,Shafqat Hussain distributed sweet meat while jubilant "Jiyalas",were seen dancing on drumbeats. The government refused to act, saying the President enjoyed immunity. Matters reached a head when the apex court charged Gilani with contempt for refusing to act on its orders earlier this year. Gilani was convicted and given a symbolic sentence of less than a minute on April 26. Gilani refused to resign even though the apex court had said at the time that his conviction could lead to his disqualification.
The speaker last month ruled out the disqualification of Gilani following his conviction, saying he had not been charged with acting in a manner prejudicial to the integrity or independence of the judiciary. Earlier in the day, the Chief Justice questioned whether the speaker could scrutinise the judgment of a seven-judge bench of the SC.
The apex court's disqualification will add to the problems of the PPP-led government, which is grappling with an economic meltdown and crippling power outages across the country that have triggered violent protests.
The government is also facing a spike in militant activities in the northwestern tribal belt and Khyber- Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces.
Politicians felicitated him on completition of his disqualification. It may be recalled that Pakistan's Supreme Court, in a dramatic turn of events, disqualified Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Tuesday and ruled that he ceased to be in office since April 26 when it convicted and sentenced him for contempt.
A shocked ruling-Pakistan People's Party (PPP) immediately accepted the verdict and decided to replace 60-year-old Gilani, who has been the Prime Minister since March 2008.
The party is expected to meet on Wednesday to decide on his replacement, and the names of federal ministers - Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, Makhdoom Shahabuddin and Khursheed Shah - are doing the rounds for the post.
President Asif Ali Zardari has cancelled his two-day visit from Wednesday to Russia following the political upheaval. 'Gilani has become disqualified from being a member of Parliament,' a three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry said in its short order, nearly two months after he was convicted for contempt for refusing to ask Switzerland to reopen multi-million dollar graft charges against President Asif Ali Zardari.
'Since no appeal was filed against this (April 26) judgment, the conviction has attained finality. Therefore, Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani has become disqualified from being a member of the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament)... and from the date and time of pronouncement of the judgment of this Court dated 26.04.2012 with all consequences,' the court said.
It added, 'He (Gilani) has also ceased to be the Prime Minister of Pakistan with effect from the said date and the office of the Prime Minister shall be deemed to be vacant accordingly.'
Tuesday's verdict came in response to several petitions that had challenged national assembly speaker Fehmida Mirza's decision not to disqualify Gilani following his conviction. Immediately after the verdict, the ruling PPP went into huddle to review the situation.
A meeting of the central leadership of the party, jointly chaired by President Zardari and his son, party chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, decided to accept the apex court's ruling against Gilani, sources said. The central leadership decided to convene separate meetings of the PPP's parliamentary party and the members of the ruling coalition to choose a leader to replace Gilani, they added.The apex court's ruling had been expected in political circles for some time but the surprise element, however, was the PPP quickly accepting the verdict. During the hearing of the petitions on Monday, the Chief Justice had questioned whether a convicted person could continue representing the 180 million people of Pakistan.
The judiciary and the government have been engaged in a standoff since December 2009, when the apex court annulled a graft amnesty issued by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf that benefited Zardari and over 8,000 others.
Since then, the judiciary has been pressuring the government to reopen the corruption cases against the President.The government refused to act, saying the President enjoyed immunity. Matters reached a head when the apex court charged Gilani with contempt for refusing to act on its orders earlier this year. Gilani was convicted and given a symbolic sentence of less than a minute on April 26. Gilani refused to resign even though the apex court had said at the time that his conviction could lead to his disqualification.
The speaker last month ruled out the disqualification of Gilani following his conviction, saying he had not been charged with acting in a manner prejudicial to the integrity or independence of the judiciary. Earlier in the day, the Chief Justice questioned whether the speaker could scrutinise the judgment of a seven-judge bench of the SC.
The apex court's disqualification will add to the problems of the PPP-led government, which is grappling with an economic meltdown and crippling power outages across the country that have triggered violent protests.
The government is also facing a spike in militant activities in the northwestern tribal belt and Khyber- Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces.
