Two Pak oppn parties to challenge Speaker`s Gilani ruling

The PML-N has decided that lawmaker Khwaja Asif will file a constitutional petition in the apex court to challenge the Speaker`s ruling.

Islamabad: Pakistan Parliament`s Speaker Fehmida Mirza`s ruling that Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani cannot be disqualified following his conviction for contempt will be challenged in the Supreme Court by main opposition PML-N of Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan`s party.

The PML-N has decided that lawmaker Khwaja Asif will file a constitutional petition in the apex court to challenge the Speaker`s ruling.

Imran Khan, addressing a large rally in Rawalpindi yesterday, also announced he would approach the apex court against the Speaker`s ruling against the disqualification of Gilani.

The move by the two opposition parties came a day after the ruling Pakistan People`s Party announced it would not file an appeal in the apex court against the Premier`s last month conviction for contempt for refusing to act on orders to reopen corruption cases in Switzerland against President Asif Ali Zardari.

The apex court convicted Gilani on April 26 and gave him a symbolic sentence of less than a minute.

The government has maintained that it cannot act against the President as he enjoys immunity in Pakistan and abroad.

The Supreme Court has been pressuring the government to revive the corruption cases against the President since December 2009, when it struck down a graft amnesty issued by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf that benefited Zardari and over 8,000 others.

PTI

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