Pakistani opposition leaders today filed a constitutional petition to the nations Supreme Court, asking them to probe the authenticity and legality of the “coup memo” delivered to Admiral Michael Mullen earlier this summer.
The petition urges President Asif Ali Zardari, former Ambassador Husain Haqqani, and military leader General Parvez Kayani and others to appear to answer questions related to the memo, which a Pakistani-American businessman says Haqqani dictated to him on behalf of Zardari to deliver to Mullen. The memo asked Mullen to help the Zardari government move against Kayani and other military leaders, promising to replace them with more pro-US officials.
Haqqani resigned yesterday over the scandal, and while Zardari denies any involvement even his own party’s Prime Minister, Yousef Raza Gilani, insists the matter needs to be fully investigated. Opposition figures say that if true, the memo would amount to an attempt to trade national sovereignty for personal political gain.
Much of the cabinet remains supportive of Zardari, with Religious Affairs Minister Kursheed Shah insisting that the entire memo issue was a “conspiracy” by the Pakistani Muslim League-N, a key opposition party, to discredit Zardari.