The cases in Switzerland were closed under the National Reconciliation Ordinance, a graft amnesty issued by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf that was struck down by the apex court last year.
Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari today directed Pakistani authorities to take steps to reopen graft cases against him in Switzerland in line with an order of the Supreme Court, according to media reports.
Zardari directed the attorney general and the federal law ministry to initiate the process for reopening the cases in Switzerland, sources close to the presidency and the ruling Pakistan People's Party were quoted as saying by TV news channels. There was no official word on the development from the presidency or the PPP.
The cases in Switzerland were closed under the National Reconciliation Ordinance, a graft amnesty issued by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf that was struck down by the apex court last year.
The sources were quoted as saying that a formal request for reopening the cases will be filed with the Swiss government by Monday.
They were also quoted as saying that Zardari had decided to face the cases in Switzerland "head on" after realising that "landing on the wrong side of the judiciary would make matters worse and not go down well with the public".
Zardari reportedly directed authorities not to create any hurdles in the implementation of the Supreme Court's verdict that called for the reopening of these cases.
The decision to go ahead with the reopening of the cases was reportedly made during a meeting of a "core group" of PPP leaders that was chaired last night by Zardari and prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.
Zardari told the meeting that, if necessary, the Supreme Court would be informed "at the right time" that the president enjoys immunity from prosecution under Article 248 of the constitution.
Sources also said Zardari had made it clear that he did not want any confrontation with the judiciary and would respect the Supreme Court's orders.
The president's move came after he was forced to back down from a showdown with the Supreme Court over two judicial appointments he made against the recommendations of chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry.
After a bench of the apex court suspended the appointments, Gilani met the chief justice and agreed to withdraw the appointments.
Meanwhile, in a related development, Navid Ahsan, chairman of the National Accountability Bureau issued orders today for immediately terminating the services of additional prosecutor general Abdul Baseer Qureshi and recommended the sacking of prosecutor general Danishwar Malik.
Ahsan took the step a day after the chief justice Chaudhry pulled him up for not complying with Supreme Court’s orders for reopening graft cases that were withdrawn under the NRO.
The chief justice asked Ahsan why a letter for reopening the cases against Zardari in Switzerland had not yet been sent to authorities in Geneva. He directed Ahsan to submit a reply, failing which the court would stop his salary.
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