High court sets deadline for new PM

• Tweet

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, July 12 (UPI) -- Pakistan's Supreme Court set a two-week deadline for the new prime minister to reopen corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.

The Thursday order asked Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf to inform the court by July 25 whether he would write to authorities in Switzerland to reopen the cases against Zardari dating back several years. Ashraf's predecessor Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani was dismissed last month after he refused to obey a similar court order, citing presidential immunity.

"These directions apply with equal force to the incumbent prime minister, as he has merely stepped into the shoes of his predecessor in office, and thus he too is bound to implement the relevant directions of the court regardless of any advice tendered earlier or in future," the court said, Pakistan's Daily Times reported.

The New York Times said the court ruling is the latest in the ongoing battle between the Zardari government and the judiciary. The report said it was unlikely the new prime minister would do anything different from what his predecessor did, and that if Ashraf is also dismissed by the court, it would set off another political turmoil leading to early elections.

In addition to its political problems, Pakistan faces renewed militant violence and critical energy shortages.

In the latest wave of violence, gunmen Thursday shot and killed nine trainee prison guards in Lahore, Pakistan's second largest city after Karachi.

The cases against Zardari and his slain wife Benazir Bhutto relate to a millions of dollars in alleged kickbacks from Swiss firms. The case was later closed by Swiss judicial authorities.

The Pakistani Supreme Court subsequently ruled against the constitutionality of an amnesty and been seeking to reopen the cases.