Prime Minister Ashraf in September 2012. (Anjum Naveed/AP)
Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the arrest of Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf in connection to a corruption case when Ashraf was a federal minister. The court insisted Ashraf “violated the principle of transparency” in securing contracts for the purchase of rental power plants for the federal government. Authorities were given 24 hours to arrest Ashraf and 16 others in connection to the case. Meanwhile, the capital, Islamabad, erupted in protests organized by populist cleric Muhammad Tahirul Qadri, who has recently returned to the country from Canada and has been calling for reforms. Pakistan’s main stock exchange fell nearly 3 percent on the news of the turmoil.
