Yousuf Raza Gilani disqualified by Supreme Court

Pakistan's prime choose disqualified the country's prime minister from workplace on Tuesday, in an exceedingly move likened to a "judicial dictatorship" by some commentators outraged that the pinnacle of state ought to be deposed by something apart from parliament.

Capping months of legal trench warfare between the government led by the Pakistan People's party (PPP) and therefore the judiciary, Yousuf Raza Gilani was stripped of his workplace by a brief statement scan out in an exceedingly packed courtroom by the chief justice.

Iftikhar Chaudhry, the highest choose, said Gilani had effectively not been prime minister since April twenty six when he had been found guilty of contempt for refusing to suits a Supreme Court order to reopen dormant fraud investigations against President Asif Ali Zardari.

At the time it had been legally unclear whether or not Gilani may stay as prime minister when being found guilty and convicted – he served a token jail term within the courtroom that lasted barely thirty seconds. But on Tuesday Chaudhry clarified the position, saying that as a convict Gilani had been disqualified as a member of parliament.

"He has additionally ceased to be the prime minister of Pakistan with impact from a similar date and therefore the workplace of the prime minister shall be deemed to be vacant accordingly," he said.

He ordered Zardari to require steps to appoint a replacement prime minister.

The legal drama adds to political uncertainty at a time when the gov will unwell afford to be distracted from a dizzying array of crises, together with widespread unrest over electricity shortages and Pakistan's deeply distrustful relationship with the US. "The supreme court has edged one step nearer to a judicial dictatorship of kinds," said Cyril Almeida, a journalist. "The constitution is extremely clear regarding how the disqualification method is meant to figure and therefore the court has quite very brushed that entire aside and is creating up new rules of the sport because it goes along."