Gilani: Conviction not related to disqualification

Amid demands that he should step down, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Monday that the conviction in the contempt case against him is not related to disqualification. Speaking to the media in Islamabad, Gilani said the 30-second detention which, will also “qualify a mention in the Guinness Book of World Records”, did not have anything to do with disqualification. He said the opposition should ‘show some patience’ because he had the right to appeal his conviction. Gilani said Nawaz Sharif spent nine years as convict but is demanding his resignation without allowing him to exercise the right of appeal. Gilani said the Supreme Court has been delaying hearing of the Mehran gate scandal against Nawaz Sharif but appeared in haste to convict him within weeks. “I respect the court which is why I went there thrice. Those who do not like to respect the courts had reservations the first time they were summoned,” he said in an oblique reference to the attack on Supreme Court judges during Sharif’s rule. He said even if he is removed, no other PPP premier would write letter against President Asif Zardari. To suggestions that he should step down on moral ground, Gilani said he had not committed any moral crime nor has been convicted on charges of corruption.  He recalled that former US president Bill Clinton when found guilty did not resign. The premier said he was not digging up old cases against the Sharifs and that these were brought to people’s attention by Asghar Khan and Imran Khan.