Gilani's disqualification case: no specific Supreme Court directive to National Assembly speaker, ECP: Dilshad

The Speaker National Assembly may not send any reference to Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) as the Supreme Court has not given any specific directive to either NA Speaker or ECP, for disqualification of Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani in the contempt of court case.
This was stated by Kanwar Muhammad Dilshad, former secretary of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). He said the apex court has only pointed out a flaw in governance and has not even slightly hinted that the prime minister be disqualified. Terming the apex court verdict as unique in the judicial history of Pakistan, he said that it is like telling the government to correct its mistakes. "In my opinion it is not mandatory, so now it is the prerogative of the Speaker whether she sends a reference or not," he added.
Renowned constitutional expert SM Zafar disagreed and stated that the Speaker National Assembly is now bound to send a reference against the prime minister to the Election Commission. He said the Speaker will act as a post office and cannot apply her mind.
"Her job is to only send the reference and nothing else...[which] she is bound to do at any cost. I would suggest that she should send the reference against the PM the sooner the better, then it is the Election Commission which will decide on the issue of disqualification," Zafar added.
Zafar further said the 30 days time would be counted from the date of handing down of the short order which would expire on May 26 provided the Prime Minister does not file an appeal against his conviction before then. Under the existing rules, the Speaker has 30 days to consider the issue of disqualification, following which the Election Commission has a further 90 days to decide the issue if it is referred to the panel.
Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and Law Minister Farooq H Naek insist that it is the Speaker National Assembly who has the power to disqualify and at the same need not send the reference to the Election Commission if she deems the prime minister innocent. Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) member Rasheed A. Razvi stated that the Speaker can not act as appellate authority on the judgment of the Supreme Court's seven-member bench and after the detailed judgment of the Supreme Court against the prime minister in contempt case, the Speaker is duty-bound to send the reference to the Election Commissioner.