(Reuters) – Pakistan’s increasingly assertive Supreme Court on Tuesday declared Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani ineligible for office, plunging the country into fresh political turmoil during one of the worst crises in relations with the United States.
The move is bound to sharply raise tensions between unpopular civilian government and Supreme Court Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, who has made a name for himself in recent years by taking on Pakistan’s most powerful figures.
In April, the Supreme Court found Gilani guilty of contempt of court for refusing to reopen corruption cases against the president.
“Yusuf Raza Gilani stands disqualified as a member of the Majlis-e-Shoora (parliament),” said Chaudhry, in a packed courtroom. “He has also ceased to be the prime minister of Pakistan … the office of the prime minister stands vacant.”
Fawad Chaudhry, a senior Gilani aide, said only parliament could dismiss the prime minister, a view shared by analysts.
While the decision is a big blow to the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), it is unlikely to lead to the fall of the unpopular government.
The PPP and its coalition partners have the numbers in parliament to elect a new prime minister until the government’s term ends early next year when a general election is due.
“I don’t see this as a major constitutional breakdown unless the PPP ignores this decision,” said legal expert Salman Raja.
“I think sanity will prevail and they should be able to do that fairly easily given that they just passed the budget – they clearly have a majority (in parliament).”
The Supreme Court directed the Election Commission of Pakistan to issue a notification declaring Gilani ineligible for office. He is the first serving prime minister in Pakistan’s history to be convicted by a court.
PUBLIC ANGER OVER GOVERNMENT FAILURES
The uncertainty is likely to further distract Pakistan’s leaders from tackling a dizzying array of problems, from widespread poverty to a struggling economy.
In the last few days, Pakistanis furious over power cuts that can last up to 18 hours a day in some areas and have crippled key industries have burned tyres in the streets and thrown rocks at buildings.
On Tuesday, guards shot at protesters who were trying to force their way into a politician’s house in the central Pakistani town of Kamalia. Two of them died of their wounds.
But in Pakistan, it’s the political struggles and their central characters, like Chaudhry, that grab the headlines, not ordinary people trying to cope with daily hardships.
Chaudhry’s supporters see him as a survivor determined to fight injustice. Detractors say he pushes too far, creating a conflict between the judiciary and political leaders that threatens Pakistan’s young democracy.
The latest uncertainty could also complicate Washington’s efforts to improve heavily damaged ties with Pakistan and persuade it to re-open supply routes to NATO forces in Afghanistan.
Pakistan closed the lines to protest against a NATO cross-border strike that killed two dozen of its soldiers last year.
Ties between the United States and Pakistan have deteriorated since a unilateral U.S. special forces raid that killed Osama bin Laden on Pakistani soil last year. That operation humiliated Pakistan’s military.
Islamabad is seen as critical to U.S. efforts to pacify Afghanistan after more than a decade of war against the Taliban.
But it is often described as an unreliable ally because of its alleged support for Islamist militant groups, poor governance, frequent power struggles involving the judiciary, civilian government and the military, and widespread corruption.
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