Bhutto loyalist elected Pakistan prime minister

03/24/2008

Members of national assembly give overwhelming support to Yousaf Raza Gillani, who quickly orders the release of judges held under house arrest.


By Laura King | Los Angeles Times | March 24, 2008


ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- The National Assembly today overwhelmingly elected a new Pakistani prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gillani, who immediately ordered that imprisoned judges be freed.

Joyous supporters of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry pushed aside police barricades and mobbed the residence where the popular jurist had been under house arrest since Nov. 3, when President Pervez Musharraf declared martial law and fired dozens of judges.

Emerging onto the villa's balcony, Chaudhry, surrounded by his family, declared that a democratic era had begun. "We believe in the rule of law," he told his backers, who cheered, danced and waved portraits of him.

Gillani said he would sign an executive order releasing the judges as soon as he was sworn in Tuesday, but Pakistani media quoted officials today as saying the deposed judges were already free.

It was the latest tumultuous twist in a Pakistani political saga that over the past year has seen Musharraf's dramatic fall from grace, the assassination of popular opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and the triumph of her party in last month's elections.

The lopsided 264-42 vote endorsing Gillani as prime minister was seen as a barometer of sentiment against Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 coup and became a key U.S. ally in the fight against Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

The election winners -- Bhutto's party and another opposition party led by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif -- have formed a new ruling coalition that has expressed determination to relegate Musharraf to the sidelines, if not oust him altogether.

Gillani's election was a highly emotional moment for followers of Bhutto, who was assassinated Dec. 27 as she left a campaign rally. In the parliament's VIP gallery, her 19-year-old son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, wiped away tears as the vote tally was announced.

Pandemonium erupted in the chamber, with lawmakers breaking into cheers, shouts and chants. It took Gillani a full 10 minutes to make his way to the podium, as he was mobbed by well-wishers who shook his hand and embraced him.

"It is because of the martyrdom of Benazir Bhutto that democracy is being restored," Gillani told the parliament. "It is a historic event."

Gillani, a former assembly speaker, spent nearly five years in jail under Musharraf, refusing to make a deal with the government to get out of jail. Many believed the charges against him were politically motivated.

The firing and imprisonment of dozens of judges was one of the key factors that turned public opinion against Musharraf. Most of them were freed after a six-week stint of emergency rule late last year, but Chaudhry and his family have been detained in his home since the night he was fired.

Musharraf declared emergency rule last November just as the Supreme Court, led by Chaudhry, was preparing to rule on the validity of his election as president by the previous parliament. The high court had been expected to invalidate that vote.