MQM should be allowed in politics: Rajwana

Rajwana says that in democracies parliament is the best forum for solving problems

LAHORE: If the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leaders have condemned Altaf Hussain’s seditious speech, they should be allowed a role in national politics, Governor Malik Rafique Rajwana said on Tuesday. He was talking to a delegation of reporters at the Governor’s House.

He said seditious speech should be condemned in the harshest possible manner. The governor said he had just returned from a trip to Karachi where he stayed for a couple of days.

Rajwana said the prime minister had presented himself for accountability. He said in democracies parliament was the best forum for resolving disputes. “I advise those speaking about the Panama Papers or the killing of 14 people in Model Town in 2014 to wait for courts’ decisions in these cases,” he said. He said it was ironic that these leaders had approached the Supreme Court of Pakistan and the Election Commission of Pakistan for redress of their grievances but they were still trying to bring their workers on the streets over these issues. “It seems that they either don’t trust the national institutions or want to influence the decisions of these institutions,” he said.

Referring to the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) and the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf plans for agitation, he said there were elements in the country that were waiting for an opportunity to disrupt the process of progress. He said the next general elections would be held in another one-and-a-half years. “These leaders should wait for the elections and then present their case to the public,” he said. “Let the people decide how the country should be governed,” he said.

Rajwana said if they were given an option to hold an election immediately those protesting on the roads would say that they were not prepared for it. “They have not done any homework. They are just engaged in point scoring,” he said.

Rajwana said the provincial government was working for development of southern districts. He said recently there had been a meeting where Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had reviewed progress on the matter.

“A committee has been formed to oversee activities for the empowerment of southern districts. It has decided to establish special secretariats for some departments to look after southern districts only. Two members of the Board of Revenues will also be designated for overseeing affairs in these districts,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 31^st, 2016.