The Supreme Court on Tuesday ousted Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and his cabinet for failure to comply with an earlier court ruling demanding a corruption probe into President Asif Ali Zardari, co-chairman of the PPP.
Another court on Thursday then blocked the PPP's first selection to succeed Mr. Gilani by issuing an arrest warrant against the new candidate for drug-related charges. The court also issued a
related warrant for Mr. Gilani's son. Both men denied the charges. The PPP nominated Mr. Ashraf as a last-minute alternative.
Mr. Ashraf is a party loyalist who was likely chosen because he won't bend to the Supreme Court's push for a Zardari investigation, said Mohammad Waseem, a professor of political science at Lahore University of Management Sciences.
The political opposition can be expected to press the government on Mr. Ashraf's record while water and power minister, Mr. Waseem said. Under his tenure, the government spent millions of dollars on temporary power plants, a process that became mired in allegations of graft and failed to mitigate Pakistan's chronic power shortages.
Pakistan's fractured opposition parties have failed to capitalize on this week's events and the pressure on the government. The PPP and its allies easily got Mr. Ashraf's nomination through the assembly, where they control a simple majority.
The nation's powerful military, which in past episodes of political instability has stepped in to seize power, has shown reluctance to enter the political arena in such an overt way during the current crisis, although it continues to play an important behind-the-scenes domestic role.
If the PPP can survive through to the fall, it will become the first government in Pakistan's history to see through a full term.
Such an outcome was in doubt last year when Mr. Zardari traveled to Dubai after suffering a mini-stroke, sparking rumors that he had flown into exile and an army coup was in the offing.
The struggle between the government and judiciary dates back to 2008, when the PPP won democratic elections following the ouster of Gen. Pervez Musharraf's military-backed government.
The judiciary, led by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, led staged street protests that were instrumental in pushing out Gen. Musharraf. When the PPP came to power in democratic elections, the Supreme Court annulled an amnesty issued by Gen. Musharraf that shielded politicians from graft probes.
The court then put pressure on the PPP government to investigate Mr. Zardari for corruption.The judge charged that Mr. Shahabuddin, while health minister, was involved in the illegal import of a drug that can be used to make methamphetamine.
Supporters of the court say it is fighting graft at the highest levels. Backers of the PPP say the court and Mr. Chaudhry have become politicized. Mr. Chaudhry has drawn criticism for overstepping the traditional role of a judge, often initiating probes rather than waiting for petitioners to bring charges.
Mr. Chaudhry, until recently, has been free of the taint of corruption within a judiciary regularly assailed with corruption allegations.
But last week, a Pakistani businessman said he had paid Mr. Chaudhry's son $4 million in bribes in return for favorable court rulings. The son denied the charges.
The mudslinging hasn't stopped. On Thursday, a judge in a lower antinarcotics court issued an arrest warrant for Textile Minister Makhdoom Shahabuddin, only hours after the PPP had named him to succeed Mr. Gilani. Src: Wall street journal
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