The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Defying army, Egyptian Parliament reconvenes
POWER STRUGGLE US calls for dialogue to resolve differences

Cairo, July 10
Egypt's Islamist-led Parliament reconvened on Tuesday in an open challenge to the generals who dissolved the assembly last month, stirring up tensions with the military just 10 days into Mohamed Mursi's presidency.

Mursi, the first civilian president to take office after six decades of military men in power, recalled the assembly on Sunday. The body, dominated by Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood group and other allies, was dismissed by the army in line with a court ruling issued days before Mursi's election.

Shortly before Parliament speaker Saad al-Katatni opened the session, the United States urged all sides to engage in talks to safeguard the political transition in Egypt, a close US ally in the three decades under ousted Hosni Mubarak's rule.

"I invited you to convene in accordance with the decree issued by the President," said Katatni, who like Mursi hails from the Brotherhood. "I would like to confirm that the presidential decree does not violate the court order."

The dispute is part of a broader power struggle which could take years to play out. It pits the Brotherhood, which was repressed by Mubarak and his predecessors, against the generals seeking to keep their privileges and status and a wider establishment still filled with Mubarak-era officials.

Parliament was elected over the course of six weeks beginning in November, under a complex voting procedure which the court later ruled was unconstitutional, declaring the lower house void.

The then-ruling military said that meant the parliament had to be dissolved, but Mursi's supporters say it should still be allowed to work until early elections are held after a new constitution is passed.

On Monday, the army defended its action to dissolve Parliament and said it was confident "all state institutions" would respect the constitution and the law. — Reuters

Pak lawmakers bulldoze contempt law
Afzal Khan in Islamabad

A Bill aimed at shielding top Pakistani leaders from contempt charges and curbing the apex court’s efforts to push premier Raja Pervez Ashraf into reopening graft cases against the President has been approved by the lower house of Parliament.

Law Minister Farooq H Naek moved the Contempt of Court Bill 2012 in the National Assembly or lower house of Parliament. It was subsequently passed after a brief debate amidst protests from the main opposition PML-N, which is opposed to the Bill.

President Asif Ali Zardari had convened a special session of Parliament to introduce the Bill.

It will also be moved in the Senate, where it is expected to be passed as the ruling Pakistan People’s Party has a majority in the upper house of Parliament.

The government intends to get the bill passed by both houses before the apex court takes up the issue of reviving the corruption cases against Zardari on July 12.

The contentious Bill provides protection to the President, the Prime Minister, federal ministers, provincial chief ministers, provincial ministers and the provincial governors against any court ruling on their orders passed and actions done in the discharge of their official duties.

The Bill effectively provides immunity to high office holders to disobey court orders and a free hand for the public to criticise the judiciary “in good faith”.

The government skirted assembly rules to rush through the Bill in a marathon session that lasted till late Monday night despite strong protests and walk-out by the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) which described the legislation as a “suicide assault on the judiciary” and a “black day for democracy.”

“You are in hurry but don’t make Parliament a shield against your misdeeds,” said Sardar Mehtab Khan Abbasi from the PML-N.

Defending the Bill, law minister Farooq Naek said: “The PPP respects the judiciary despite the fact we are victims of justice.” He said there were a number of contempt of court cases in the courts but there was confusion about the relevant law which has now been removed.

Under the new legislation “fair comments about the general working of courts made in good faith in the public interest and in temperate language on the merits of a decision of a court made, after the pendency of the proceedings in a case, in good faith and in temperate language” shall not amount to contempt of court.

Think 10 times before saying anything against courts: Judge

Lahore, July 10
Think 10 times before you say anything against Pakistani courts or judges, Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial of the Lahore High Court remarked while hearing a contempt case against a government official.

"One should think ten times before uttering derogatory remarks against courts and judges," Bandial said during the proceedings yesterday.

He turned down an unconditional apology offered by Joint Secretary Sher Ali of the Religious Affairs Ministry in contempt of court proceedings initiated against him.

The Chief Justice fixed July 11 as the next date in the contempt proceedings against the official.

The Chief Justice initiated the proceedings against Ali after he criticised the High Court's directions to the Religious Affairs Ministry in response to several petitions challenging the allocation of Haj quotas among private tour operators. The court had issued a show-cause notice to Ali on July 4.

In a related development, Bandial issued notices to the Religious Affairs Ministry in response to several petitions challenging the Haj Policy 2012. — PTI

Congo warlord jailed for 14 yrs

The Hague, July 10
The International Criminal Court today sentenced Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga to 14 years in jail for using child soldiers in his rebel army, in the tribunal's first such order.

"Taking into account all the factors... the court sentences Mr Lubanga to 14 years in prison," presiding Judge Adrian Fulford told The Hague-based court.

He said the court has taken into account the time Lubanga has already spent behind bars since March 2006, meaning he will effectively spend eight years in prison.

Lubanga, 51, was convicted in March of war crimes, specifically for using child soldiers in his rebel army in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2002-03, in the ICC's first verdict since it was set up a decade ago.

He was found guilty of abducting children as young as 11 and forcing them to fight and commit atrocities in the DRC's northeastern gold-rich Ituri region. During the trial prosecutors told how young girls served as sex-slaves, while boys were trained to fight. — AFP

Suspended Romanian Prez hands over power

Bucharest, July 10
Romanian President Traian Basescu handed over power today to his rival, parliament speaker Crin Antonescu, after the constitutional court approved his controversial suspension by lawmakers.

The move comes ahead of a referendum on July 29 on last week's parliamentary vote to impeach the centre-right Basescu in a political and constitutional crisis that has raised fears about the state of democracy in the EU state.

Antonescu, a member of the centre-left ruling coalition headed by Prime Minister Victor Ponta, is now interim head of state following the transfer which was held behind closed doors, the presidency said. — AFP

Dual Nationality
Malik resigns from Pak Senate
Afzal Khan in Islamabad

Rehman Mailk

Rehman Mailk, Pakistan’s adviser to Prime Minister on Interior Affairs, on Tuesday resigned from the Senate over a month after the Supreme Court suspended his membership of Parliament.

Malik told reporters at the airport in Karachi that he had submitted his resignation to the Chairman of the Senate or upper house of Parliament.

On June 4, the apex court suspended Malik’s membership of the Senate on the ground that he had failed to provide proof of renouncing his British citizenship.

The court has suspended the membership of nine members of the national and provincial assemblies in response to petitions filed against lawmakers with dual nationality.

Malik described his move as a “personal decision” aimed at countering the impression that a bill moved in Parliament on Tuesday to allow persons with dual nationality to contest polls would primarily benefit him.