Pakistan in Media

Those personally affected by the judgement of the Supreme Court setting aside the ignominious NRO and re-opening cases that were hushed up under it have reacted with yet more ignominy that consists of doing everything that the country has been harmed by in the sixty-three years of its existence. They have defied the court. They have tried to pit institution against institution. They have sought to fan the flames of ethnicity. They have threatened to amputate the limbs of those in the media who expose their corruption. They have done everything except the one honourable thing for them to do; to resign and face the courts. What they have done and are doing may be despicable, but it is not unexpected. It is in perfect harmony with the character shown and the deeds done by this lot for the past two years that they have been in power. The same cannot be said about some others whose integrity and commitment to the ideals of justice and good governance we do not doubt: they have been in the forefront of the struggle for human rights and for a democratic Pakistan. Some of them were vigorously active in the judiciary's struggle against a brutal dictatorship. That is exactly why we find it ironic that they now have chosen to judge the SC judgement in a manner that has little to set them apart from how Musharraf and his minions saw the present judiciary or how Zardari and his henchmen are trying to defame it. They have found the judgement biased, as targeting specific individuals, as persecuting a particular party, as going beyond the pale. And what have they to offer in the way of argument? Precious little. Having a problem with a short order and with the unanimity of the judges (or wondering why the judges were not divided on the issue?) who passed the judgement amounts to actually nothing. Asking why Musharraf was not mentioned in the judgement takes guts though. For the question is being hurled at a judiciary that made history fighting that man in uniform, while some of these critics were, at least for a while, busy trying to make people see that the struggle was one man's quest for glory and had little to do with the independence of the judiciary. This question is apparently also being posed to defend those who actually committed the affront of blocking the reinstatement of the judges, of aiding and abetting the former dictator's escape from the country after they had presented him with the guard of honour. If it is not easy today to bring Musharraf to justice, the accusing finger has to be pointed at Zardari and his men and not those who still cause Musharraf enough worry not to return to the country. And playing the Musharraf card does nothing but adds to the nervous shrieks of those who were his loyal partners then, and are in power now. How does that serve the cause of democracy?

If the post-judgement political situation degenerates into a conflict between the PPP-led government and the opposition spearheaded by the PML-N, Pakistan can return to a highly dangerous internal confrontation. Such a state of affairs will turn the whole effort to check corruption and misuse of state authority into a head-on collision between the government and the opposition

Most political circles are celebrating the Supreme Court judgement on the NRO without realising that it is yet another example of the civilian-political government finding its political future in jeopardy because of extra-parliamentary developments. If the military is not the key player this time, the superior judiciary has relied on its constitutional powers to deny the moral basis to the civilian government, which could be the beginning of the end of the present political arrangements. Parliament is marginal to determining the future of the government or at least that of President Asif Ali Zardari.

The prime minister, by coming out in support of an evidently sinking President Zardari, would seem to have put loyalty ahead of wisdom. Despite the growing signs that power is slipping away from the PPP government as NAB asserts a new-found independence and courts follow the directions chalked out by the SC in its landmark ruling on the NRO, the PM has signalled he could be opting for the path of defiance. By suspending the interior secretary for preventing the defence minister from leaving for China and by refusing to reappoint Tariq Khosa as the DG FIA, Mr Gilani has made it clear that he is not willing to accept the court’s rulings. So, we have here a script for potentially open confrontation. Aspects of this are comic. But the whole thing could end in a terrible tragedy as institutions engage in an ugly clash. We have seen this happen before. The maturity and selflessness that could have averted this is not being seen.

The way out is simple: the president must step down; others in the government who are NRO beneficiaries must follow. Most citizens would favour this approach. The widespread acclaim for the SC ruling has made this quite apparent. The court too is a powerful one and has repeatedly demonstrated that it is not ready to play the role of a rubberstamp. We have then a situation totally different to that which has existed at any time in the past. But the approach taken by the PM suggests we will have only more uncertainty. When he accuses others of acting against the interests of the state, Mr Gilani does not realize that he himself is doing so by failing to respect institutions within it and allow them to perform their role. Indeed neither he, nor the president, seem to recognize the dangers they are exposing their country too. Further instability is the last thing we need at the present time. Yet this is what could lie ahead if the present dangerous dance proceeds without check.

So, who can act as a voice of restraint and wisdom? We have at the helm of the state a man who himself is accused of serious crimes. The role traditionally assigned to the president, as a mediator and as an individual able to help iron out wrinkles in the system, cannot come into play this time. Those who surround him themselves seem to favour battle rather than the use of good sense. The PM too has opted to side with the president’s camp. This may be a decision he may come, in time, to regret. It is to be seen if from within the PPP any voices of wisdom will be heard. Certainly, there are people who realize where we are headed, and that to put on the brakes once the descent down a slippery slope begins is no easy matter. Only if they step in swiftly can further mayhem be warded off and the chances of the democratic order remaining intact raised.

ISLAMABAD: While the government may have leaked its intentions of not defending the infamous National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), it clearly has no plans to abandon the NRO beneficiaries.

An impotent and toothless new law has been hastily drafted to protect the NRO tainted, whose cases would reopen instantly if the Supreme Court strikes down the NRO, as widely expected, in the high-profile cases being taken up by the 17-member bench today (Monday).

The proposed law, planned to be introduced any day as an ordinance, has been finalised at the highest-level meetings. Sources said a copy of the proposed draft had also been handed over to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), which apparently seemed to be on board.

The lengths politicians will go to in order to save themselves are astonishing. Still more astounding is their lack of regard for dignity – whether their own or that of their nation. Since the NRO controversy broke out in full earnest last month, the episodes involving desperate efforts by those affected by the scuttling of the law to prevent the wheels of justice moving freely have accelerated. The latest such incident has unfolded in Geneva, where the Pakistani high commissioner to the UK, accompanied by a former deputy attorney general, took away a carton-load of documents related to cases under the NRO. The two men had flown into Switzerland for the purpose; and in scenes played out by Geo TV – which would have been comic had they not been tragic in terms of the crimes of corruption committed by the powerful – refused to answer questions about what they were doing.

However, there is nothing very mysterious about this. As this newspaper and Geo TV have reported, a visit was paid to a Swiss lawyer who held the documents pertaining to corruption cases against Pakistani politicians. These cases had been dropped from the Swiss courts on the orders of the Pakistan government under then president Pervez Musharraf when he put the NRO into effect. We all know that President Asif Ali Zardari is the key person behind all this. Quite apart from his alleged corruption – of which ample evidence is said to exist even if the Swiss documents have been destroyed – one must also wonder at his frightening lack of acumen. Evidently Mr Zardari has failed to realize that actions such as the one in Geneva mean only that he is held in still greater contempt by the people of Pakistan. More and more among us wonder how we can continue with a man around whom so much controversy swirls as our head of state. The brave efforts to defend the president, essentially on the basis of the fact that he was democratically elected, are waning in view of his total inability to change his image or to learn from past mistakes. Indeed, by misusing the powers he possesses, to dispatch government officials to seize materials from lawyers, Mr Zardari demonstrates what appears to be a complete unwillingness to change his ways. It is also obvious that the president is a scared man. Perhaps he sees the net closing in around him. He has in fact been helping to draw it tighter through antics such as the Grand Document Snatch in Geneva. One day we may laugh at these events. Today we must mourn at being governed by leaders who think only of themselves and are willing to do almost anything to save their own necks.

ISLAMABAD: The Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, would take up the pending petitions challenging the controversial National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) on December 7.

A 17-member larger bench has been constituted to hear the NRO cases. The larger bench will be headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

Other members of the bench are Justice Javed Iqbal, Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan, Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday, Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan, Justice Tassadduq Hussain Jillani, Justice Nasirul Mulk, Justice Raja Fayyaz Ahmed, Justice Ch Ijaz Ahmed, Justice Muhammad Sair Ali, Justice Mahmood Akhtar Shahid Siddiqui, Justice S Khawaja, Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, Justice Rahmat Husain Jafferi, Justice Tariq Parvez and Justice Ghulam Rabbani.

Former military dictator General (retd) Pervez Musharraf promulgated the NRO to grant amnesty in corruption cases to former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and her husband Asif Ali Zardari, now the President of Pakistan.

Instead of stabilising the political system, giving a clean and effective government and supporting the Army and security forces to fight the menace of terrorism with full political backing and support, the arrogant and lop-sided governance style of President Zardari has messed up everything. Within a year he has reached the point where everyone is asking and discussing “what after him”. Musharraf took nine years to reach that stage when the Americans dumped him. Zardari was fast. He has now dug into his bunker and is ready to fight. But fight for what? Fight with his own self against his own failures?

Today’s mess is not for the Pakistan Army to clean, as it was 15 months ago. The Army has already played its behind-the-scene role to keep the system going. Today the failure is of the politicians and they should not blame anyone else, as is now becoming a habit in pro-Zardari circles. No one wants to destabilise the system. But the blunders and egocentricities of the PPP leadership is going to do that.

A very mischievous impression is being given that criticism of Zardari, and sidelining him, would mean another attack on Sindhi rights. He should be sidelined because he has failed as a politician and not as a Sindhi. He should pay for his acts of omission and commission, the rampant corruption unleashed all around and the failed policies that he has forced on everybody. All this has nothing to do with Sindh or the Sindhi card.

In fact, all reports from Sindh say people in Larkana and Nawabshah would be more than happy if the tyranny of these newly unleashed feudals is ended. The decades old servants and workers of Mr Bhutto’s ancestral homes would like to come back to their jobs and not live in wilderness any more.

The heavy onus of correcting the situation thus lies on the prime minister and the PPP, or whatever part of the organisation which can come out of the scare spell of the presidency. Gilani is considering many options, including his own resignation if he does not get his way. But right now the centre of power has shifted to his office and the presidency is in a lame-duck mode.

As a starter Gilani can slash his cabinet and remove all the tainted NRO hit ministers, advisers and ambassadors. In one go, he will boost his image and credibility and deliver a fatal blow to the one-man style of governance that has led the PPP into a corner in just two years.

The PM should then move with super speed to get the 17th Amendment repealed, get the competent and popular PPP leaders back into the party fold, take Mian Nawaz Sharif and others on board, even in his cabinet, as in the early days of the coalition. Get a political consensus on major issues, start a dialogue with moderates in the ranks of militants and then lead the country with a focus on ending the miseries of the poor harassed masses and crushing the militancy.

He should keep the president informed and on board if he wants to play along. But it should be clear that the buck would stop at the PM House. If this does not happen and Mr Zardari creates hurdles, plays his dirty tricks, unleashes his ‘Ghairat’ or ‘Izzat’ brigades against the PM, the media, the security establishment or all of them, he would be the one responsible for demolishing the system. No one else should then be blamed.

ISLAMABAD: After the unveiling of the names of NRO beneficiaries, particularly the ruling class, the question striking every mind is how these big-wigs would continue to retain their present positions and status.

There is good news for these beneficiaries as the tamed and subdued National Accountability Bureau (NAB) fears that unless it is independently allowed to pursue corruption cases of the NRO beneficiaries on merit, acquittal of all the accused, despite the presence of concrete evidence, is imminent.

Sources in the NAB say reopening of the cases of the NRO beneficiaries would be meaningless if the bureau continues to be controlled by the government. In the absence of an independent accountability apparatus, the government would expect from the NAB prosecutors to lose or concede cases of corruption and misuse of authority against the powerful and the mighty in the present government.

The sources said the government has already made the NAB a completely impotent body by making it to dance to its tunes. The rulers have not only indicated to abolish the bureau but have also drastically cut its budget, besides inducting favourites.

Referring to a few corruption cases settled outside the NRO through the normal court processes in the present government, involving high-profile public office holders, the NAB sources said that in order to ensure honourable acquittals, the NAB was directed to make certain that its prosecutors did not pursue the cases on merit in the concerned courts. The friendly prosecution behaved as per the dictates of the rulers, which resulted in the desired results — honourable acquittal from corruption cases through normal court processes.

Analysts say if this could be proved it would be a gross obstruction of justice and a violation of laws and the Constitution. “The same formula is now expected to apply in the cases of all those important players, including federal ministers, key advisers and influential bureaucratic appointees, whose corruption cases would revive with the demise of the NRO,” a NAB source said, adding that despite the fact that the NAB has been used for political victimisation in the past, most of the corruption cases and the references made by the bureau have strong evidence to prove these cases in the court of law.

These sources said that without the NAB being administratively and financially autonomous, the dream of across-the-board accountability could never be fulfilled. The NAB even in the Musharraf government was not allowed to target pro-Musharraf politicians and his ministers despite massive corruption and mega financial scandals that had surfaced during his tenure.

However, under the present government the NAB has been made completely redundant and is not even allowed to probe massive corruption cases of the Musharraf era. Now, it is said the government intends to abolish the NAB and replace it with a new accountability commission, which would, however, remain under the strict control of the government.

Ironically, the draft accountability law that has recently been finalised by the government, if enacted in its present shape, would promote corruption instead of curbing it as it contains a permanent NRO for the politicians. It contains a controversial clause which says: “No case against the holder of a public office shall be registered, after three years of the expiry of his term or of his ceasing to hold office, of an offence under this Act which is alleged to have been committed during his tenure.”

The said clause was rejected by the committee but was mysteriously added in the final draft of the accountability commission, reportedly by a former law minister who still holds the strings although he has moved to a top parliamentary position.

Sources said that the new accountability commission is proposed to be placed under the Law Ministry, which would never allow it to function as an autonomous body. It would perhaps be used for political vendetta.

Interestingly even the PML-N members of the committee did not object to the Law Ministry’s proposed control over the future accountability commission. The NAB sources said that whether the NAB continues to exist or it is replaced by the new accountability commission, fair and across-the-board accountability could only be ensured by making it independent, both financially and administratively. One option could be to put it under judicial committee comprising some selected members of the superior judiciary and members of parliament belonging to all different shades of political parties.

As if the news that we had dropped a further five places down the Transparency International corruption scale were not enough, there comes the (not unexpected) revelation of the writing off of billions of rupees as a consequence of the promulgation of the NRO. A report in this newspaper suggests that the figure could be as much as Rs1,000 billion, a number so incomprehensibly large that it beggars the imagination. The National Reconciliation Ordinance effectively cancelled the powers of the National Accountability Bureau (itself flawed and of doubtful provenance but something is better than nothing) and opened the gate for hundreds – perhaps several thousands – engaged in graft and corruption to walk away from their crimes. Those who did the walking were not the poor or needy; they were the rich and powerful, the movers and shakers at the top end of our society. In many cases there is powerful evidence of wrongdoing, much of it by politicians and the workers of political parties across the entire spectrum of our political entities and institutions. Whatever evidence there was has disappeared and will never be presented. A stratum of criminality at the heart of politics and governance once again escapes the rule of law.

The determination to resist any form of accountability is embedded at every level of governance and has become a defining national characteristic. Small wonder that the world sees us as something of a basket case, seemingly teetering on failed-statehood and forever in denial of our many flaws. They have only to read through the back issues of our newspapers for the last twenty years or so (which is as far back as archives go online) to see the rot at the core of the state, the venality that elsewhere would have brought down individuals if not entire governments. Unless and until there is a change in the culture of corruption we seem doomed to wallow very publicly in our own filth – and there is neither sign of nor incentive for change. Our rulers invest heavily in the status quo and perhaps have little real interest in educating or empowering the majority, because by doing so they may be in a position to challenge that artificial equilibrium. The iniquitous NRO was, according to some legal eagles, itself unconstitutional and discriminatory, a law applicable only to a tiny section of the population and not a law for all men and women everywhere. How many schools could have been built for Rs1,000 billion? Hospitals? Roads? Rural water supply systems? Vocational training centres? Until a majority decides to stand up and say ‘Enough’, NRO beneficiaries are going to be laughing as they dance towards their banks.

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) presented to the government on Thursday a list of 248 politicians and bureaucrats, who were alleged to have plundered hundreds of billions of rupees but were cleared by the NAB under the NRO.

Sources in the Law Ministry while sharing with The News the “complete list” of NAB’s NRO beneficiaries, explained that thousands other cases of NRO beneficiaries did not belong to the NAB but with the provincial governments because they were criminal cases and were not covered by the NAB law.

On top of the list is the name of President Asif Ali Zardari while his several close associates, both political and bureaucratic, including Rehman Malik, Salman Farooqi and his brother Usman Farooqi, Hussain Haqqani and Siraj Shamsuddin are also reflected.

ISLAMABAD: According to the official National Accountability Bureau (NAB) list, approximately Rs165 billion was written off because of the promulgation of the NRO and the subsequent act of making the NAB impotent but official sources claim that according to ‘actual’ calculations corruption cases of about Rs1000 billion were terminated.

These also include such cases where even the initial investigations had yet to begin. In just one case, a case of a highly influential individual involving a US$1.5 billion (Rs122 billion) plunder was terminated with the legal stroke of an illegal pen. In yet another case, the wife of an influential politician walked away scot-free and an amount of exactly Rs310 million was written off. There is a long list of cases in which complete immunity of billions of rupees was granted to a select segment of society.

Besides the NAB list of NRO beneficiaries given to the Law Ministry for presentation before the prime minister and then the National Assembly, hundreds of other political luminaries were given a clean slate in corruption cases without mentioning the word NRO and thousands of political workers involved in heinous criminal activities too got their records cleansed.

It appears as if the MQM chief’s stand is a decisive one in the current political situation. This is attested by the fact that following his decision, not only is the NRO dead and buried forever but it also seems to have set the stage for the implementation of the minus-one formula

The other day the MQM supremo Altaf Hussain caused a political tsunami when in a mysterious call made in the dead of the night he announced not to support the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) bill and counselled Zardari to leave the presidency for the sake of democracy and along with his associates face cases in the courts. It left the Zardari government high and dry because it was banking on MQM’s support for the smooth passage of the bill. For President Zardari, Altaf was a Brutus who had stabbed him in the back. Visibly upset by this development, the PPP had negotiations with the MQM in Dubai, which however did not produce the kind of result that the PPP was looking for because though the MQM apparently made a summersault on Zardari’s resignation by claiming that it did not ask for his head, only surrender of the 17th amendment presidential powers, it refused to budge on the NRO. Resultantly, the government withdrew the NRO from parliament and Zardari is now struggling for his political survival. How do we explain the latest theatre in town?

Why has the establishment that had accepted the PPP government after Musharraf’s exit now turned hostile towards it? The explanation for this lies in Zardari’s personality and performance with which the establishment is not satisfied on several counts. First, there is lack of governance and the Zardari government appears to be utterly rudderless. Second, there is rampant corruption in which he and others are allegedly involved. To compound the matter he is not willing to show the door to the latter. Third, he is perceived as America’s man echoing his master’s voice as evidenced by the Kerry-Lugar Bill (KLB), which he tried to promote even though the establishment viewed it as an American instrument to get Pakistan’s nuclear programme capped and the Pakistan army and the ISI controlled. Fourth, the Zardari government has allowed the Americans to get themselves installed in Islamabad, which allows them space to indulge in espionage activities in Pakistan. Finally, Zardari is perceived as being soft on India.

ISLAMABAD: In the last fateful meeting of the party central executive committee, the old PPP guards surprisingly compared the present siege-like situation of President Asif Ali Zardari to that of late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who during his incarceration days was given similar sugar coated assurances about his survival by his party leaders, just as an ‘all is well and great’ report being given today by all the president’s men.

President Zardari was reportedly told point black by Nawab Yousuf Talpur that these were the similar sycophants who were nowhere to be seen when the time of trial came and ultimately their leader was hanged.

Apparently, Talpur’s bold utterances proved only a harbinger of more to come. According to sources, after a very long time some of the senior party leaders blasted the policies and failures of their own government, and much to their pleasant surprise, they found the president, also the party co-chairman, ready to listen to them uninterrupted and without giving them a put up or shut up call. Some of the senior party leaders were said to be dissatisfied with the briefing given to them on the NRO issue and the government plans to tackle it in the days to come.

Earlier, unlike the past traditions, CEC members were also asked to give approval for the long pending reshuffling of the cabinet. The CEC empowered the president to change the portfolios of the ministers but Mr Zardari hurriedly passed on these powers to PM Yousuf Raza Gilani, who might soon announce the changes in the portfolios of the ministers. One source said, MNA Sherry Rehman and Senator Raza Rabbani were likely to rejoin the cabinet.

KARACHI: Corruption in Pakistan increased in one year of the PPP government and Transparency International ranked Pakistan 42nd among the world’s most corrupt countries against 47th last year.

Pakistan’s 2009 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) score was 2.4, ranking it at 42, TI Pakistan chief Adeel Gilani said while releasing the report here on Tuesday. Against this, Bangladesh has marginally improved its position also ranked 42nd against 38th last year. India has been at 84th position.

According to the Transparency International ranking, the higher the position of a country on the list the better is its integrity account and lesser corruption. Countries scored highest in the 2009 CPI are: New Zealand at 9.4, Denmark (9.3), Singapore and Sweden tied at 9.2 and Switzerland at 9.0, reflecting political stability and long established conflict of interest regulations.

According to Gilani, anti-corruption efforts in Pakistan had taken a 180-degree turn since the then-president Pervez Musharraf issued the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) in October 2007. The NRO, which granted immunity to politicians, military officers and bureaucrats charged with corruption, enabled the return home from exile of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

ISLAMABAD: The list of the NRO beneficiaries runs long but that of real lucky ones is a rather short one. Seven to be precise. These lucky gentlemen are taking it easy, enjoying life, travelling abroad and even visiting holy places. Why? Because they were fortunate enough to have their cases tied to President Asif Ali Zardari, who as per the Constitution cannot be called in any court as long he occupies the presidential office. Those implicated in cases involving the President therefore too will face the music only if and when the prime accused is tried in the court.

These lucky seven include five former federal secretaries and two politicians, according to the NAB list furnished for tabling in the National Assembly. The NAB list indicates that Zardari’s principal secretary Salman Farooqi, ex-principal secretary Saeed Mehdi, ex-chairman ADBP Badar-ud-Din Zaidi, ex-commerce secretary Aslam Hayat Qureshi, ex-chairman CBR AR Siddiqui, ex-agriculture minister Yousaf Talpur and Begum Nusrat Bhutto are co-accused in different cases with the president.

After a high level meeting of the ruling alliance at the Presidency on Monday, the PPP government has decided not to bring the controversial National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) to parliament for a vote. This is clearly a reversal but one which could have been avoided had the ruling party consulted its allies beforehand. It is quite apparent that the NRO as a bill was brought to the relevant committee of the National Assembly without making sure that all the numbers needed were in hand.

The withdrawal will not put an end to the “dangers” that the NRO represented to the map of power brought about by the 2008 general elections. After the debacle caused by an aggressive withdrawal of the MQM from the pro-NRO consensus, the next crisis in the offing is the march of the opposition to a no-confidence vote. The PML-N, whose chief is determined to start a Long March on the ordinance, is no longer averse to the thought of a mid-term change, whether through a new general election or through the ‘minus-one’ formula under a ‘national government’, possibly with Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani in the driving seat.

ISLAMABAD: Over 100 corruption and criminal cases involving many top politicians and bureaucrats, which were settled under the controversial NRO after February 2, 2008, would automatically reopen after 25 days on Nov 28.

NAB documents and information collected from other sources reveal that not only President Asif Ali Zardari but most of his confidants and top political and bureaucratic aides benefited from the NRO after February 2, 2008, after the controversial ordinance had completed its constitutional life of 120 days.

The Presidency’s decision not to enact the NRO with effect from February 2, 2008 would reopen all the cases settled after that date as per the Supreme Court decision. Documents reveal that under the NRO reference (ref) 91/2004 against Rehman Malik, the present interior minister, for alleged misuse of authority, was closed down on March 3, 2008. On the same day, another case (ref 92/2004) against Rehman Malik for alleged receipt of two cars from Toyota Motors as illegal gratification on account of purchase of official vehicles was also closed under the NRO.

The apex court did not agree with the perception that the benefits drawn from the NRO are past and closed transactions.It instead judged: “Under Article 89 of the Constitution, an ordinance issued by the president if not so laid before the National Assembly, or both Houses of Parliament, stands repealed on expiration of four months from its promulgation.”

Under this judgment, the NRO stands invalid since February 5, 2008, when it completed its 120-day constitutional life. The NRO was enforced on Oct 6, 2007, and within 120 days had to be passed by parliament as a bill or re-issued as an ordinance, which it was not.