Asif Ali President Ten PercentZardari
... sticky-fingered husband of the late Benazir Bhutto ...
yesterday issued an ordinance to give constitutional protection to the decisions made by former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani
... Pakistain's former prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics could be awe-inspiring ...
from April 26 to June 19, DawnNews reported.
According to the ordinance these decisions cannot be challenged in any court. The ordinance also stated that any agreements made by Gilani with other countries during the time between April 26 and June 19 would also be given constitutional protection.
Zardari's Pakistain People's Party government, dogged by corruption allegations, has been locked in a stand-off with the judiciary for years, accused of working behind the scenes with the military and the political opposition.
Its culmination came on Tuesday when the Supreme Court unceremoniously evicted Yousuf Raza Gilani on June 19 from the prime minister's office after convicting him of contempt for refusing to reopen Swiss corruption cases against Zardari.
Two days later, an anti-narcotics court ordered the arrest of Makhdoom Shahabuddin, Zardari's nomination to replace Gilani, over a drugs scandal.
Forced by the circumstances, ruling MPs elected Raja Pervez Ashraf as Pakistain's new prime minister on Friday, in a bid to end a crisis that threatens to destabilise the country.
President Asif Ali
Ten PercentZardari will now hope that Ashraf can form a cabinet able to see through the government's five-year term in office, due to expire in February 2013, without the need for early elections.