Raja Pervez Ashraf

Raja Pervez Ashraf (2018)

Raja Pervez Ashraf ( Urdu راجہ پرویز اشرف, also Raja Perwez Aschraf ; Born December 26, 1950 in Sanghar , Sindh ) is a Pakistani politician and a member of the Pakistani People's Party (PPP). From March 2008 to February 2011 he was Minister for Water and Energy in the cabinet of Yousaf Raza Gilani . After his election on June 22, 2012, he was the incumbent Prime Minister of Pakistan until March 15, 2013. He was the official successor of Yousaf Raza Gilanis (PPP), who was removed from office on conviction for obstruction of justice.

Political career

Minister for Water and Energy

Ashraf was Minister for Water and Energy between March 2008 and February 2011. During this time he awarded numerous contracts to foreign companies to build power generators, which were later to be rented to the Pakistani state. The opposition accused him of accepting bribes when awarding these projects.

He was also criticized for the numerous power outages that occurred again and again due to the poor condition of the power grid and the failure of some hydropower plants due to a persistent drought.

Prime Minister election

After Yousaf Raza Gilani was removed from his post as prime minister due to a conviction for disregarding the court in connection with a corruption scandal involving President Asif Ali Zardari , the Pakistani People's Party reached an agreement with its coalition partners of the Pakistan Muslim League and other smaller parties on Makhdoom Shahabuddin as a candidate for the election of the prime minister by parliament. However, there were already allegations of corruption against Shahabuddin, so that shortly after his nomination, an arrest warrant was issued against him, which is why the Pakistani People's Party and its coalition partners had to find a new candidate. Eventually the parties managed to agree on Raja Pervez Ashraf as a candidate. After a test vote in which Ashraf received 200 votes, his election was considered certain. Finally, on June 22, 2012, he was elected the new Prime Minister of Pakistan with 211 votes out of 342.

Conflict with the Supreme Court

Like his predecessor Gilani, Ashraf was asked by the Pakistani Supreme Court to persuade the Swiss authorities to reopen a corruption case against President Zardari . Ashraf's People's Party politicians, as well as some independent journalists, suspect that Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry is conducting a "personal campaign of revenge" against the president. Ashraf was given until August 8, 2012 to initiate proceedings against Zardari. Since Ashraf refused to do so, the court summoned him after the August 27 deadline; Ashraf followed suit and gave a 45-minute speech in which he announced his intention to end the case. The court then adjourned the hearing to September 18. Before that date, Ashraf relented and asked the country's justice minister to withdraw a letter from 2007 urging the Swiss authorities to stop the investigation against President Zardari. Ashraf indirectly complied with the Supreme Court's request to move Switzerland to retrial. Presumably for this reason, the hearing was postponed to September 25th.

The conflict broke out again in January 2013. After the clergyman Muhammad Tahir al-Kadri , who had appointed himself revolutionary leader and organized a protest march to Islamabad , called for the dissolution of parliament and the resignation of the government because he accused both of corruption and support for terrorists , he ordered The Supreme Court ordered Ashraf's arrest on January 15, 2013, and asked the country's security forces to see Ashraf appear in court the following day. The reason for the arrest was given by new findings in a corruption process, which indicated that Ashraf had accepted bribes in connection with energy projects during his time as energy minister. The arrest warrant was not officially linked to the demonstrations by supporters of Tahir al-Kadri. However, it is believed that not only is the Supreme Court working closely with the military to bring about the overthrow of the current government, but also that the Tahir-ul-Qadris campaign was funded by the military for the same reason. However, on January 17, the anti-corruption agency responsible for the arrest said they refused to arrest Ashraf because there was insufficient evidence. The President of the Court then asked Iftikhar Chaudhry to produce all files relating to the case so that they could be re-examined. However, on January 21, the investigation into Ashraf was suspended after an anti-corruption officer was found dead in his home. A spokesman for the agency said the investigation would resume as soon as the investigation into the death was completed.

resignation

On March 16, 2013, Ashraf and his cabinet resigned according to the constitution after the end of the 5-year legislative period, thus enabling new elections. A transitional government took over the office until the newly elected government took office. The end of the Ashraf government is considered historic, as never before has a democratically elected Pakistani government survived a legislative period.

Web links

• spiegel.de: Ashraf is supposed to lead Pakistan out of a state crisis
• spiegel.de: The master of excuses rules Pakistan

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} spiegel.de June 22, 2012: Master of excuses rules Pakistan , accessed on June 24, 2012
2. ↑ Hasnain Kazim : The nuclear power Pakistan is driving into chaos. In: Spiegel Online from January 15, 2013; Tobias Matern: interference from the army. In: Süddeutsche.de from January 15, 2013.
3. ↑ Sascha Zastiral: Permanent feud in Pakistan. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung from August 9, 2012.
4. ^ Supreme Court orders Premier Ashraf. In: Spiegel Online from August 8, 2012.
5. ↑ The corruption case continues. In: Neues Deutschland from August 28, 2012.
6. ^ The court grants a respite to Premier Ashraf. In: Spiegel Online from September 18, 2012.
7. ↑ Hasnain Kazim: Supreme Court in Pakistan orders arrest of the prime minister. In: Spiegel Online from January 15, 2013.
8. ↑ spiegel.de January 17, 2013: Corruption allegations in Pakistan: Investigators refuse to arrest Premier Ashraf , accessed on January 17, 2013.
9. ↑ spiegel.de January 21, 2013: Corruption case in Pakistan: Investigation against Premier Ashraf stopped , accessed on January 30, 2013
10. ↑ spiegel.de March 16, 2013: Pakistan: Government clears the way for new elections , accessed on March 21, 2013

predecessor	Office	successor
Yousaf Raza Gilani	Prime Minister of Pakistan 2012-2013	Me Hazar Khan Khoso