PAKISTAN'S CONTROVERSIAL NEW ATTORNEY GENERAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L ISLAMABAD 003424

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/06/2017
TAGS: PGOV PK
SUBJECT: PAKISTAN'S CONTROVERSIAL NEW ATTORNEY GENERAL


Classified By: Anne W. Patterson, Reasons 1.4 (b),(d)


1. (C) Summary: By offering to resign, Pakistan's Attoreny
General became the only cabinet member to take the blame for
the Chief Justice debacle. But his replacement, Malik
Qayyum, has a checkered history and is already proving
controversial. Qayyum was the presiding judge in the 1999
conviction of Benazir Bhutto, represented Shahbaz Sharif in
his 2003 petition to return without facing deportation and
most recently was the most vocal member of Musharraf's
defense team on the Chief Justice case. As the official who
represents the government before the Supreme Court, Qayyum
will face growing pressure to deal with judicial appeals on
everything from the composition of voter lists to cases
challenging Musharraf's right to govern. But allegations of
corruption and a poor record of supporting judicial
independence are likely to weaken his effectiveness. End
Summary.

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Khan Resigns, Citing Need for Accountability
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2. (U) On July 28, Attorney General Makhdoom Ali Khan
submitted his resignation, citing the need for government
accountability in the wake of the Chief Justice controversy.
President Musharraf accepted the resignation and on August 1
appointed Malik Qayyum, a member of his defense team from the
Chief Justice case, as the new Attorney General.


3. (U) After the Supreme Court reinstated Chief Justice
Iftikhar Chaudhry in July, there have been repeated calls for
resignations, including those of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz,
Law Minister Wasi Zafar and Attorney General Khan. Khan is
the only one to have done so.

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Qayyum: A Controversial Replacement
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4. (C) Qayyum, the new Attorney General, is a controversial
figure. He was the presiding judge in the Accountability
Court that in April 1999 convicted Pakistan People's Party
Chairman Benazir Bhutto and her husband Asif Zardari for
accepting kickbacks in return for awarding government
contracts. The Supreme Court ordered a retrial of the case
in 2001, however, when a leaked government document indicated
that Qayyum had been pressured by the Nawaz Sharif government
to speed the conclusion of the case and to press for maximum
punishment. (Note: There were also accusations that in
return for his cooperation, Qayyum's brother, Pervaiz Malik,
was granted a ticket for a National Assembly seat and that
Qayyum and his wife received diplomatic passports. End
Note.) After the accusations were made public, Qayyum was
pressured to tender his resignation to the Lahore High Court
and went into private practice. In 2003, Qayyum represented
Shahbaz Sharif in his petition to return to Pakistan without
facing deportation. Qayyum most recently served on President
Musharraf's defense team for the Chief Justice case, where he
emerged as Musharraf's most vocal advocate.


5. (U) Soon after his appointment was announced, the Pakistan
Bar Council and the Supreme Court Bar Association (which
Qayyum used to head) rejected it, saying that Qayyum had
betrayed the lawyers' fraternity by siding with the
government in the struggle for judicial independence. For its
part, the Pakistan Bar Council anounced that Qayyum will not
be accepted as its chair (a traditional role for Pakistan's
Attorney General).


6. (C) Comment: Both the incoming and outgoing Attorneys
General can be accused of bungling the case of what
admittedly was an ill-conceived idea to suspend the Chief
Justice. We will not be sorry to see Khan go, as he blocked
further negotiations on the bilateral investment treaty over
concerns about investor-state arbitration and other issues.
However, Qayyum seems a weak choice to become Attorney
General at a particularly critical time for
executive-judicial relations in Pakistan.
PATTERSON