President Zardari consults allies over PM appearance before SC

ISLAMABAD: A meeting of coalition partners being chaired by President Asif Ali Zardari has begun here at Aiwan-e-Sadr, hours before the Supreme Court resumes hearing of contempt of court case against the Prime Minister for not writing the letter to the Swiss authorities to open graft cases.

It has been learned through sources that the Prime Minister intends to appear before the Supreme Court. However, consultations are underway to reach a final decision in this regard.

Two allies of the government, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Awami National Party (ANP), have put forth an advice to avoid a clash between state institutions.

Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf and Law Minister Farooq H Naek are present at the high-level meeting besides leaders of the coalition parties including Pakistan Muslim League-Q, MQM and ANP.

Earlier, the Prime Minister held a meeting with President Zardari to decide the strategy in connection with the former's appearance before the apex court on Monday.

The Supreme Court last month issued a contempt notice to Prime Minister Ashraf for not implementing its order of writing a letter to the Swiss authorities to reopen a money-laundering case against President Zardari. PM Ashraf has been asked to appear in person before a five-judge bench headed by Justice Asif Khosa on August 27 to respond to the notice.