ISLAMABAD, 6 March 2008 — An accountability court yesterday quashed corruption cases against the husband of slain former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, a move that could ease tensions between President Pervez Musharraf and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) that came in first in last month’s parliamentary elections and is expected to lead the next government.
The anti-corruption court in Rawalpindi ordered government prosecutors to terminate five cases against Asif Ali Zardari, co-chairman of PPP, under an ordinance promulgated by Musharraf last year, said Farooq Naek, Zardari’s attorney. “He has been acquitted,” said Naek.
Government prosecutor Zulfikar Ahmad Bhutta confirmed that the cases had been dropped. He said property including businesses and a bulletproof limousine would be returned immediately to Zardari.
The National Reconciliation Ordinance instructed courts to dismiss corruption cases against politicians and bureaucrats dating from before Musharraf seized power in a 1999 coup. The ordinance paved the way for Benazir’s return from exile before she was slain in a December suicide attack.
Last week, the Supreme Court lifted a stay order on the ordinance, opening the way for yesterday’s ruling. Naek praised the Supreme Court for reviving the reconciliation ordinance.
The cases dropped include charges of illegal payments relating to the purchase of thousands of Polish tractors and the construction of a polo ground inside the prime minister’s residence. Zardari spent years in jail without being convicted and insists the charges were politically motivated. Naek forecast that another judge would terminate the last two outstanding cases against Zardari at another hearing on March 12. An alleged money-laundering case is still pending against Zardari in Switzerland.
Yesterday’s ruling will anger some ordinary Pakistanis but may smooth the way for a new administration to take office and begin tackling urgent issues including rising extremism.
Zardari, a former Cabinet minister, acquired the nickname Mr. Ten Percent for allegedly pocketing kickbacks during the 1990s when his wife led two short-lived governments.
His return is eyed with suspicion by many Pakistanis, for whom he symbolizes a decade of corruption and misrule that nearly bankrupted Pakistan.
However, Benazir’s killing and Zardari’s takeover of her party have made him a key figure in Pakistan’s fraught journey back toward democracy after years of military rule.
Some of the opposition parties, who trounced Musharraf’s supporters in the Feb. 18 parliamentary vote and are expected to form a coalition government, want to drive the president from office.
But Zardari and his party appear more conciliatory. Party leaders are expected to announce their candidate for prime minister on Thursday. Zardari is ineligible because he did not stand in the elections.
— With input from agencies
