ISLAMABAD, Feb 13: The PPP leadership is determined to fight the contempt of court charges formally framed by the Supreme Court against Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani who is also vice-chairman of the party.

PPP sources told Dawn on Monday that the party had reiterated its earlier stance of not writing a letter to the Swiss authorities against its co-chairman President Asif Ali Zardari ‘come what may’.

They said the party leaders had had through discussions on the option of writing the letter and getting the prime minister cleared of contempt charges. “However, all of them were of the view that writing the letter at this time would only hurt the party cause and, therefore, the leadership has decided to fight it out in the court.”

A PPP official said the party leaders were of the opinion that President Zardari enjoyed immunity and, therefore, the government should not write the letter to the Swiss authorities.

“In politics, semantics matters a lot and if Prime Minister Gilani is sent packing the PPP as a party has nothing to lose,” said a federal minister. Instead, he argued, it would help the party in the next general election.

The PPP official said the party’s legal wizards were working on various options. He did not elaborate the options but said the main focus at the moment was on buying as much time as possible from the court.

“The party’s main concern at the moment is the smooth passage of Senate elections which are due on March 2,” he said.

Soon after the apex court’s hearing, Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan told reporters that the PPP would not allow the trial of Benazir’s grave. She was referring to the money-laundering cases President Asif Zardari and his late wife, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, have been facing in Swiss courts and the Supreme Court in its NRO judgment had ordered the government to reopen the cases.

Law Minister Maula Bakhsh Chandio said Mr Gilani would remain as prime minister till the next general election. He said the prime minister was still an accused and PPP’s adversaries should stop celebrating as if he had been convicted of contempt.

“There is a long way to go,” he said while talking to a TV channel.

A close aide of the prime minister said the government would use all legal options, including presidential pardon, if the court finally decided against him. However, he said, all depended on the nature of court judgment.

“I don’t know if in the event of conviction Prime Minister Gilani will seek presidential pardon, but the Constitution provides this recourse by using which a convict cannot only get away with the punishment but also the crime,” Salman Akram Raja, a Supreme Court lawyer, told Dawn.

A participant of the coalition partners’ meeting, held in the afternoon at the Prime Minister Secretariat and also attended by Mr Gilani’s counsel Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, said they looked worried over the evolving court proceedings.

Although on the face of it they expressed their complete support for the beleaguered prime minister, among themselves they talked about a possible future scenario in case of his conviction.

“As long as the prime minister is holding office coalition partners are there to support him, but in case of his disqualification by the court things will not remain the same,” he said, adding that there would be an immediate realignment among political parties.

Answering a question, he said if Prime Minister Gilani was removed from the office as result of the court order it would be a tough task for President Zardari to get his replacement elected in the present parliament. Therefore, he said, the government would try not to let the ongoing development reach that level.

The coalition partners’ meeting was attended by PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, ANP chief Asfandyar Wali Khan, MQM leader Farooq Sattar, Fata parliamentary group leader Munir Khan Orakzai, Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Minister for Religious Affairs Syed Khursheed Shah, Minister for Water and Power Syed Naveed Qamar, Minister for Railways Haji Ghulam Ahmad Bilour and Raja Pervez Ashraf.