In an interview today with the Chinese media, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousef Raza Gilani condemned the official responses from Pakistan’s Army Chief of Staff Parvez Kayani and ISI chief Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha on “memogate”, saying that their depositions were illegal.
Interestingly, the depositions were court ordered in relation to the investigation of the so-called coup memo, in which Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari allegedly sought US help in ousting Kayani, Pasha and other top soldiers in an effort to increase his own power.
Gilani did not accuse either Kayani or Pasha of saying anything untrue, either, but rather objected to the fact that they responded to the court order at all, saying they never got permission from the Defense Minister. It should be noted that the Defense Ministry confirmed last month having no practical control over the military.
This “spirit but not letter of the law” argument was also pushed by former Ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani, who demanded that the entire investigation be halted on the grounds that the Supreme Court did not have the power to add judges of high courts to the commission.