Pak in fresh chaos, SC orders PM arrest
build two electricity power plants as minister for water and power between March 2008 and February 2011. The order comes more than a year after two opposition figures filed a complaint in the Supreme Court against Ashraf. In March 2012, the court had ruled that the power plants were illegal, ordered their closure, and instituted proceedings against Ashraf.
Fawad Chaudhry, a senior adviser to Ashraf, said that any attempt to arrest the prime minister would be “illegal and unconstitutional.” “Under the law, the court cannot arrest him,” he said.
President Zardari has called a meeting of senior advisers at his Karachi residence to discuss the crisis late Tuesday, he added. Zardari’s supporters have painted the prosecution as part of a politically tinged drive by Justice Chaudhry to unseat Zardari.
Whether there was any link between the court order and Qadri’s march on Islamabad — billed by the preacher as a “million man march” but in reality far smaller — the timing was certainly striking.
In his speech Qadri — who returned barely one month ago to Pakistan from Canada, where he also holds citizenship — demanded immediate resignation of the government and painted the country’s elected politicians as “criminals”.
“There is no parliament. There is a group of looters, thieves and dacoits!” he said in a thundering voice, pointing to the building behind him. “Our lawmakers are the law breakers.”
In contrast, Qadri offered fulsome support for the military and the Supreme Court, both of which have been at odds with Zardari’s government. “Now only
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