KHI 10-02-2012_Layout 1 2/10/2012 2:33 AM Page 1
Drones multiply militants, says Hina Rabbani Khar
Halt!Healthcare professionals running amok
PAGE 05
PAGE 7
g
g
Government gives in to opposition’s demand on caretaker setup Dar, Rabbani to propose new consensus draft of 20th Amendment Bill PPP to take allies into confidence on new bill
PAGE 16
pakistantoday.com.pk
rs15.00 Vol ii no 224 22 pages lahore edition
g
Maldives ex-president Mohamed Nasheed awaits arrest
Friday, 10 February, 2012 rabi-ul-awal 17, 1433
PPP, PML-N reach deal on 20th Amendment
Sc teLLS PM
ISLAMABAD MIaN aBRaR
Let there be an independent and neutral caretaker setup. The government finally agreed to the demand of the opposition parties that the appointment of a consensus independent but neutral caretaker setup should be guaranteed in the Constitution through the 20th Amendment. A source told Pakistan Today that under the agreement, an amendment was likely to be added to the 20th Amendment Bill 2012 that would provide amending the word ‘consultation’ with a new word, ‘consensus’ with the opposition leader, paving the way for a consensus legislation for installing a consensus caretaker setup to hold general elections. However, he added, these words might also be changed in the final draft, which would be prepared in a day or two by representatives of both parties. “Raza Rabbani and Ishaq Dar have been named to propose a consensus draft on the new amendment. The government has taken the leadership of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) into confidence on its decision about yielding to the opposition’s demands while the leadership of the Pakistan Muslim LeagueQuaid (PML-Q) and Awami National Party
NATO supplies continuing through Pak airspace: Munter ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt
US Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter on Thursday said NATO supplies were continuing through Pakistani airspace. Talking to reporters at the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA), Munter said there should be a mechanism in place to stop future attacks such as the one on the Salala checkpost in Mohmand Agency in which 24 Pakistani troops were killed in a NATO airstrike. The US ambassador reiterated that the attack was not preplanned and was unintentional. Asked if it were true that despite the blockade of road routes for NATO supplies for forces stationed in Afghanistan, Pakistan’s airspace was being used to provide for them, Munter replied in affirmative. “As I have commented before many times, what happened was tragic but unintentional and this is something that we all must work together to try to prevent. The way to work together is to make sure these kinds of tragedies do not take place,” Munter said.
Apex court says contempt case can be discharged if Gilani commits to writing letter g Admonishes Ahsen for raising points tantamount to influencing the court g
ISLaMaBaD: prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani shakes hands with punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif before a meeting of the Council of Common Interest on thursday. online (ANP) would also be taken into confidence. After taking its allies on board, the government would table the 20th Amendment Bill in a special cabinet meeting to be held in a few days,” said the source. Reportedly, the MQM also demanded the inclusion of members from all po-
litical parties in the draft committee of the new bill so all political forces could be taken on board. However, no MQM leader was available to confirm their demand. continued on page 04
Mind your own business, not Balochistan, senators tell US g g
Call move breach of Pakistan’s sovereignty, meddling into its internal affairs Raza Rabbani asks govt to take serious note of US committee hearing ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt
Lawmakers in the Upper House of parliament were up in arms against the US congressional meeting on the Balochistan issue on Thursday, calling the move a breach of the country’s sovereignty and meddling into the internal affairs of Pakistan. Strongly condemning the US congressional committee hearing on the Balochistan unrest, the senators from all political parties, except the Awami National Party (ANP), questioned how the US lawmakers dared talk about Pakistan’s territorial integrity. Speaking on a point of order, Senator Raza Rabbani of the PPP said the move was a direct attack on Pakistan’s sovereignty and made it clear that no foreign country would be allowed to examine anything inside Pakistan. “I condemn this in the strongest possible terms… we are not ready to accept any such message as we are a sovereign state. The US which has a track record of human rights violations across the globe ought to think twice before taking any such step,” he added. Rabbani, who is also chairman of Parliamentary Committee on National Security, called upon the government to take serious note of the US committee hearing over the Balochistan issue and ask the US clearly as to why it had called a meeting over a purely internal issue of another sovereign state. He said if the government failed to take appropriate action in this regard, he as the chairman of Parliamentary Committee on National Security, would take a sou motu notice of the hearing. Senator Prof Ibrahim Khan of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) said Pakistanis had the capacity to resolve its issues without seeking anybody’s help. He urged the US to learn to respect human rights. continued on page 04
balochistan needs your attention, mr pm | page 03
US Congress discusses Balochistan again WASHINGTON: The United States Committee on Foreign Affairs convened a congressional meeting on Thursday for an exclusive discussion on the situation in Balochistan. The Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, chaired by Representative Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) held a session to discuss the targeted killings and human rights violations in Balochistan and termed it a matter requiring urgent attention. He also co-authored an article a few days ago favouring an independent Balochistan. In his opening remarks, Rohrabacher said Balochistan was a turbulent land marred by human rights violations “by regimes that are against US values”. He said human rights violations were also there in Balochistan, even though the province had vital strategic importance. Human Rights Watch (HRW) Pakistan Director Ali Dayan Hasan said in his submitted remarks that cases documented by the HRW showed Pakistan’s security forces and its intelligence agencies were involved in the enforced disappearances of ethnic Balochs. He asked the US government in his recommendations to “communicate directly to the agencies responsible for disappearances and other abuses, to demand an end to abuses and facilitate criminal enquiries to hold perpetrators accountable”. He clarified that the HRW took no position on the issue of the independence of Balochistan. continued on page 04
T
ISLAMABAD MaSooD ReHMaN
he letter has to be written. This was a clear position the eight-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, took without budging from its stance while hearing an intra-court appeal against the seven-member bench order that decided to charge Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani with contempt of court. “If you commit that the letter (to the Swiss authorities) will be written, we are ready to discharge the case,” the chief justice told the prime minister’s counsel Aitzaz Ahsen, who remained noncommittal despite all the judges repeatedly saying that the case revolved around the letter, which had to be written. “You may consider it (the letter) the Faisalabad Clock Tower (Ghanta Ghar) that stands straight in front of you no matter which road you take,” Justice Khilji Arif Hussain remarked. During the almost seven-hour long arguments on Thursday, Ahsen tried to convince the bench to set aside the order of summoning the prime minister on February 13 to indict him for contempt of court, recall the show-cause notice in the interest of justice and suspend the proceedings of the seven-judge bench hearing the contempt case. But the judges did not appear convinced by his arguments. However, the court gave Ahsen a full chance to build his argument and did not show any haste as it decided to continue hearing the case on Friday (today). But Ahsen was asked to complete his arguments before 10.30am. Today, therefore, is the day of judgement - whether the prime minister will be charged for contempt or not. At the outset of the hearing, the court expressed dismay over some points raised in the appeal, which were related to the restoration of the judges giving the prime minister this credit, and directed Ahsen to delete them. The court noted that these questions were tantamount to influencing and ridiculing the court. Ahsen had argued in the appeal that it would be ironic to send to prison a democratically-elected prime minister, who had released the detained judges even before taking oath as the chief executive. The chief justice observed that the judges had taken oath under the constitution and no one was above the law. He said the appeal not only carried some unbecoming points about the judges, but also against their children. “Should we give relief to your client on these grounds?” the chief justice asked. He said the holder of a constitutional office and chief executive not only put the court in an embarrassing position by raising such points but also perplexed himself. “We are unable to understand how your client compelled you to write such things in the appeal,” the chief justice asked Ahsen. The judges remarked that these questions gave the impression that the prime minister, being an institution, could influence the court. The judges repeatedly told Ahsen that the contempt notice would be discharged if he assured the court that his client would write the letter to the Swiss authorities to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari. But Ahsen continued to stick to his contention that he was not supposed to argue about writing the letter or the president’s immunity, instead he was defending his client in the contempt case. Referring to various judgements, he tried to establish that his client had not committed contempt by not writing a letter to the Swiss authorities, as he had acted on the advice given to him by the experts and a summary moved to him by the law secretary and attorney general stating that the cases in the Swiss courts had been abandoned because of lack of evidence, thus writing the letter was a futile exercise. He said his client had a bona fide intention by not writing the letter, thus he deserved to be given the benefit of doubt. continued on page 04