Karachi, March 29, 2023 (PPI-OT): Chairman Pakistan People’s Party, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in his address at the National Assembly today said that Pakistan is facing a perfect storm. Over the decades, Pakistan has combatted crises of varying degrees, ranging from economic and political to constitutional and democratic. Currently, Pakistan and its people are facing a multitude of challenges simultaneously, part of which is owed to a former PM [Imran Khan] who took it upon himself to destroy the country’s economy. The Covid-19 pandemic’s devastating impact as well as the conflict between Ukraine and Russia has added to the quagmire. In the midst of all this, Pakistan has faced one of the most severe climate catastrophes experienced by the region, resulting in the submersion of one-third of the country underwater. The people are bearing the brunt of this disaster till date.
It is unfortunate that we are also witnessing the resurfacing of terrorist outlets that had earlier been driven out, such as the TTP, Majeed Brigade and BLA. The very same PM who led the country to the brink of default, allowed for the nation to be engulfed in the flames of terror. Our country has combatted terrorists and extremists as a nation, from the police and the military to politicians and civilians accepting martyrdom for the sake of peace. We, as a nation, achieved what the rest of the world and NATO could not in Afghanistan. We had reduced the capacity of these terror organisations to the extent that they were not even able to recruit people.
It is our misfortune that a PM was imposed on us, who behind the backs of the people, decided to pardon the terrorists who had attacked the children of APS and had the blood of the innocent people of the country on their hands. The incompetent and selected PM pardoned and released these terrorists and brought them to KPK and former tribal territories in flocks of thousands. The people of the tribal areas rendered huge sacrifices to face these terrorists courageously. Just as the tribal areas were starting to progress, this incompetent former PM decided to bring these terrorists from Afghanistan.
Even today when Pakistan faces this influx of crises, including those related to its security, economy and democracy, it is owed to one selected PM. We brought forth political stability by forgetting the bitter past and moving towards consensus for the sake of the nation. Just as we signed the Charter of Democracy, restored democracy and the 18th Amendment along with giving KP its identity and the provinces their rights through the NFC Award, undemocratic forces began a hybrid war against this democratic consensus among the political parties. This war was being fought through a plethora of means, including the media as politicians were handpicked and faced character assassination as well as cases. The purpose of this was to damage the trust that the Pakistani people had in not only the politicians, but the democratic system as a whole.
Why did General Hameed Gul bring Imran Khan into politics in 1996? Then, the role of General Pasha, General Zaheer-ul-Islam and General Faiz Hameed is before the people to see. They were all involved in the hybrid war against the democratic system of the country. Iftikhar Chaudhary laid the basis of the dictatorial role of the Chief Justice, the very monopoly that is being raised as a concern today by the court’s own judges. He too was part of the hybrid war, that began as anti-PPP but had deep-rooted aims, which revolved around abolishing the 18th Amendment and ridiculing democracy. The faces of all these figures in the war kept changing, from Iftikhar Chaudhary, Pasha to Zaheer-ul-Islam to Faiz Hameed.
One constant remained through all this and that is Imran Khan. This cricketer was brought into politics by our establishment and the institutions of the country were involved in creating this Frankenstein of theirs for the past three decades. This happens time and again as certain ‘Einstein’s’ in our institutions gather and come up with strategic assets that eventually make our lives difficult. We kept struggling for a free judiciary, media, democracy and Constitution as they continued to retaliate to every democratic move of ours with a dictatorial step. We used to deliberate over how staging sit-ins and knocking on Gate no. 4 would qualify as undemocratic steps and the only way forward was that of a constitutional method, that of the no-confidence. In response to this, they abrogated the Constitution through the President of the country in connivance with the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the time.
If the law has been breached, then the Prime Minister has to file a case. The Pakistan Peoples Party’s tradition and legacy is to play clean politics. However, it cannot be allowed for the Constitution to be abrogated and ridiculed with influential figures involved. The visceral reaction and polarisation in the society is not in answer to our no-confidence motion but something else. Our former Army Chief himself said that the establishment used to interfere in politics in the past but that this would be discontinued. A parallel structure has been constructed in the country for 70 years. There is a distinct political class that has no future in politics. If the establishment and the undemocratic powers stop meddling in politics, then it would have no future as it only flourishes in dictatorial regimes. There must be some logic behind why the descendant of every dictator that has been imposed in the country are in the PTI. There can be no political future of the son of a dictator, they can win no election on their own. They can only have a political future in a selected rule.
There are still stakeholders in our bureaucracy, judiciary and the establishment who back selected regimes for the sake of their own future. They would not make bureaucratic or professional progress if Pakistan continues on a democratic path. If all these anti-democratic entities are on one page, that is due to their agenda of protecting their interests and this selected man. We believe that PM Gillani was disqualified as a result of an undemocratic decision made under the control of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. The judiciary was accused of playing a controversial role in 2018 elections, that too was under the control of Chief Justice Saqib Nisar. The Constitution was made to be abrogated by the Supreme Court of Pakistan. As per what law does the Chief Justice have the authority to make a dam fund? How could the Chief Justice of Pakistan go on trips abroad and collect money? If someone wishes to hand over the Punjab government to the opposition, then they do so by abrogating the Constitution in their judgement.
To the PM and the law minister, we say that it is ‘too little, too late’ that this legislation is being brought forward. This legislation empowers our judiciary; its name should be changed to Justices’ Empowerment Legislation. Democracy in the Supreme Court would be restored by this legislation. We are about to break the tradition of the Chief Justice running the court as per the ‘one-man, one-vote’ approach. This legislation has been part of every manifesto of the PPP since 2007. We were blackmailed into passing the 19th Amendment by the judiciary. They threatened to strike down the 18th Amendment.
In June last year, addressing the National Assembly, I had said that the Chief Justice of Pakistan does not equal the Supreme Court of Pakistan. It means each and every member of the Supreme Court. We know that this legislation will become a part of history. The Constitution had been ridiculed continuously by an institution’s conspiracy but finally in 2023, the Parliament decided to put an end to it. Quaid-e-Awam, Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto had advocated for the idea of unity and it is still applicable to the current situation. We might still have to sit together, even with those whose faces we are not particularly fond of, for the sake of the Pakistan as it is our country.
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