Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Tuesday formed a five-member commission to investigate the May 2 raid by United States special forces to kill Osama bin Laden, and charged it with evaluating the situation that led to the intelligence and security failure in locating the al Qaeda chief and affixing responsibility.
However, Supreme Court Bar Association President Asma Jehangir said the commission was illegal since legal formalities had not been fulfilled in the formation of the body. The commission will be headed Supreme Court Justice Javed Iqbal, while other members include Justice (r) Fakhruddin G Ebrahim, Lt Gen (r) Nadeem Ahmed, former inspector general of police Abbas Khan and former ambassador Ashraf Jahangir Qazi. Cabinet Secretary Nargis Sethi will act as secretary of the commission.
The government also announced the Terms of Reference (ToRs) of the commission, mandating it to ascertain complete facts regarding the presence of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad. The commission will investigate the circumstances and facts regarding the US operation and will also determine the nature, background and causes of lapses by the authorities concerned, if any, besides making consequential recommendations. It seemed, however, that the government formed the commission without consulting the people it has appointed.
When contacted, Justice (r) Ebrahim said he was unaware of his nomination and that he had only learned about his nomination to the commission from Pakistan Today. “I just reached home and have no knowledge of my inclusion in the commission. You are giving me a surprise,” he said. Asked whether he would be willing to serve as a commission member, he said it was quite premature to make any decision as he did not know who his colleagues in the commission were.
“I can’t make any comment for the time being. I have to consult with my colleagues and family prior to any decision,” he said. The government consulted its coalition partners on the constitution of the commission but did not take the opposition parties in confidence. A unanimous resolution passed at a joint session of parliament on May 13-14 had asked the government to form an independent commission.
Though the government had committed to forming the commission, the PML-N had made it a political issue and threatened to protest in case the formation of the commission was delayed. In a letter to the prime minister, the PML-N had suggested Justice (r) Shafiur Rehman, Justice (r) Nasir Aslam Zahid, Justice (r) Ebrahim, Mahmood Khan Achakzai, Asma Jehangir and a Lahore-based journalist.
Rejecting all other names proposed by the PML-N, the government included Justice (r) Ebrahim in the commission, but he was not consulted by the government or the PML-N. The prime minister’s press secretary, Mian Shabbir Anwar, told Pakistan Today that consultation with the nominees was not the government’s responsibility. “These names had been suggested by various political parties and it was their responsibility to consult with their respective nominees,” he said.
In a guarded reaction to the constitution of the commission, PML-N leader and Punjab government spokesman Senator Pervaiz Rashid said his party would give its opinion after a meeting on Thursday. When asked if the PML-N would welcome the government decision, he said there were three main factors to be evaluated by the PML-N.
“We have to discuss the commission’s nominees as some of the names are not being debated; we would have to see the ToRs of the commission; and finally, the party meeting would also want to know whether all those named in the commission are ready to work under the given situation and powers,” he said.
Terming the constitution of the commission illegal, Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Asma Jehangir told a private TV channel that legal formalities had not been fulfilled. “I have spoken to Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and he told me that he had not been consulted by the government before appointing Justice Javed Iqbal as head of the commission,” she said.
