Islamabad: In his first appearance in the National Assembly after the Supreme Court convicted him of contempt of court, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani declared yesterday that only the parliament had the authority to remove.
Lawmakers of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N), which says it does not recognise him as prime minister after the conviction, walked out of the lower house of the parliament as Gilani entered the hall.
A session of the assembly overnight, which was not attended by Gilani, was marred by a rumpus as opposition and government legislators engaged in a noisy exchange of invectives and thumped desks.
"I am unanimously elected prime minister of 180 million people of Pakistan and no one, but the parliament can remove me. If the parliament de-notifies me today I will step down at once," Gilani said amid applause by the deputies belonging to Pakistan People's Party and its coalition partners.
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Under the rules the Speaker of the National Assembly will examine if a question arises on whether a member of the assembly is liable to disqualification and if necessary send the issue to the Election Commission for a decision, a process which takes four months. "No one other than the Speaker of the National Assembly can de-notify me," the prime minister told the cheering legislators.
By-election
He cited Thursday's victory of a PPP candidate against PML-N nominee in a by-election in his home town Multan on a vacant seat of the legislature of the opposition-ruled Punjab assembly and also the earlier electoral success from the area of one of his sons.
This was evidence of the nation's support and confidence in the PPP and its leadership, he claimed, vowing that the coalition government was pursuing a policy of strengthening democracy in the country. "we shall not allow democracy to be derailed," he said.
Gilani challenged PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif to adopt the constitutional route to realise their desire to remove him from office. "I challenge them to bring a no-confidence motion against me in the assembly."
Parliamentary sources said the Supreme Court's verdict has been received by National Assembly Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza, who belongs to PPP.
A seven-judge bench on Thursday punished Gilani with token imprisonment till the rising of the court while the verdict also opened the door for disqualification in accordance with the constitution's procedures.
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