January 24, 2008	Thursday	Muharram 14, 1429

LAHORE, Jan 23: PPP’s legal adviser Senator Farooq H. Naek has challenged the attorney-general’s assertion about the National Reconciliation Ordinance and said that the NRO neither needs to be re-promulgated by the president nor requires to be laid before the National Assembly for approval or rejection.

Talking to this correspondent on Wednesday, he said corruption cases against Ms Benazir Bhutto, Asif Ali Zardari and others ‘‘abated” after the assassination of Ms Bhutto.

Advocate Naek said that corruption allegations had been LEVELLED only against the slain leader while the others had been impleaded as “beneficiaries of the alleged corrupt practices”.

As the allegation was yet to be proved when Ms Benazir Bhutto was murdered on Dec 27, the cases stood abated, he said, adding that cases could not proceed against the “beneficiaries” and, consequently, they also stood abated.

Attorney-General Malik Mohammad Qayyum was reported to have said that the NRO was expiring on Feb 5 and the president would have to re-promulgate it to keep it in force.

Some media reports suggested that the issue of the NRO has been reopened to mount pressure on the PPP to cooperate with the president.

Senator Naek said the NRO was a piece of legislation promulgated by the president after realising that the cases filed against Ms Bhutto were “politically motivated and false”.

He said the government could not change its stand now by contending that the ordinance would stand expired on a certain date and the cases would be revived.

Some legal and constitutional experts, who did not want to be named, also endorsed the views expressed by Senator Naek.

One of them said: “Article 4 of the Provisional Constitution Order, inter alia, lays down that all ordinances made by the president shall continue in force until altered, amended or repealed by the president or any authority designated by him.’’

Similarly, he said: “Article 5 of the PCO lays down that an ordinance promulgated by the president shall not be subject to any limitations as to duration prescribed in the Constitution, and the provisions of this Article shall also apply to an ordinance which was in force immediately before the commencement of the Proclamation of Emergency of 3rd November 2007”.

The NRO was promulgated by the president by exercising his power under Article 89 of the Constitution on October 15, 2007.

On Dec 15, 2007, the president brought in the Revocation of Proclamation of Emergency Order, 2007, whereby the Proclamation of Emergency Order as well as Provisional Constitution Order No.1 of 2007 stood revoked and repealed, respectively, with effect from 15th December, 2007.