Islamabad: Former president Pervez Musharraf could be tried for his unconstitutional act of imposing emergency in 2007 by a simple majority resolution of Parliament, Pakistan's top law official said on Monday.
Attorney General Latif Khosa said Parliament should debate and decide Musharraf's fate in the wake of the apex court's verdict. Parliament is supreme in this matter, he said.
Even a resolution passed by a simple majority in both houses of parliament will be adequate and a two-thirds majority is not required, Khosa told reporters outside the Supreme Court this morning.
The apex court last week declared Musharraf's act of imposing emergency on November 3, 2007 as unconstitutional and illegal, raising the possibility of his trial on charges of treason. However, such a trial can be initiated only by the government.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani too said over the weekend that parliament should decide the fate of Musharraf. "They (Supreme Court) have given their verdict... I have been saying from day one that Parliament is the forum which has to take these decisions. Let the Parliament decide (the fate of Musharraf)," he said in an interview.
Bureau Report
First Published: Monday, August 03, 2009, 14:39