Pakistan's prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani disqualified by supreme court Pakistan's PM Yousuf Raza Gilani was dismissed for being in contempt of court. Pakistan's top judge disqualified the country's prime minister from office on Tuesday, in a move likened to a "judicial dictatorship" by some commentators outraged that the head of government should be deposed by anything other than parliament. Capping months of legal trench warfare between the government led by the Pakistan People's party (PPP) and the judiciary, Yousuf Raza Gilani was stripped of his office by a short statement read out in a packed courtroom by the chief justice. Iftikhar Chaudhry, the top judge, said Gilani had effectively not been prime minister since April 26 when he had been found guilty of contempt for refusing to comply with a supreme court order to reopen dormant fraud investigations against President Asif Ali Zardari. At the time it was legally unclear whether Gilani could remain as prime minister after being found guilty and convicted - he served a token jail term in the courtroom which lasted barely 30 seconds. But on Tuesday Chaudhry clarified the position, saying that as a convict Gilani had been disqualified as a member of parliament. "He has also ceased to be the prime minister of Pakistan with effect from the same date and the office of the prime minister shall be deemed to be vacant accordingly," he said. He ordered Zardari to take steps to appoint a new prime minister. The legal drama adds to political uncertainty at a time when the government can ill afford to be distracted from a dizzying array of crises, including widespread unrest over electricity shortages and Pakistan's deeply distrustful relationship with the US. "The supreme court has edged one step closer to a judicial dictatorship of sorts," said Cyril Almeida, a journalist. The constitution is very clear about how the disqualification process is supposed to work and the court has quite extraordinarily brushed all of that aside and is making up new rules of the game as it goes along. Last night senior PPP leaders including Zardari's 23-year-old son, met to discuss the crisis which had forced Zardari to cancel a trip to Russia. But figures within the PPP and its coalition partners in parliament gave no indication they were prepared to try and defy the supreme court. Instead, discussions turned to who should be appointed to succeed Gilani. Names in the frame include Hina Rabbani Khar, the foreign minister. But a senior member of one of the parties allied to the PPP said Makhdoom Shahabuddin, minister for the textile industry, was most likely to get the job. "This is a very difficult situation because even the constitutional experts and big lawyers cannot agree on whether this is legal," the senior politician said. But the supreme court is an organ of state and whether what they say is right or wrong, we must accept it. With its partners, the PPP has a comfortable majority in parliament, but the other coalition partners may seek major concessions if they are to give their blessing to a new prime minister. The government is determined to become the first in Pakistan's history to see out a full five-year term in office, which must end by February next year, even if it will continue to be dogged by judicial efforts to reopen the so-called "Swiss letter" affair, which stretches back to the 1990s when Zardari's late wife, Benazir Bhutto, was in power. The couple allegedly received kickbacks from Swiss companies and then laundered the cash. Although they were found guilty by a Swiss court in 2003, Zardari appealed and prosecutors dropped the case. When Chaudhry ordered Gilani to ask the Swiss authorities to reopen the case the government refused, arguing the president enjoyed immunity as head of state. Chaudhry's willingness to take up cases against some of Pakistan's most powerful people has earned him legions of fans. But his status as a legal hero has been undermined recently by allegations from a billionaire real estate tycoon called Malik Riaz who claims the chief justice's son had demanded millions of dollars in bribes to influence supreme court cases. However, the ongoing controversy surrounding Chaudhry's family is likely to be wiped out by his decision to oust the prime minister.