HRCP rebukes feuding political parties
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan on Tuesday rebuked feuding political parties for undermining democracy as the world's fifth-most populous country battles an economic crisis.
The fragile coalition government led by Shehbaz Sharif has been facing increasing pressure from opposition leader Imran Khan, Pakistan's most popular politician, ahead of elections.
There have been multiple clashes between the police and the PTI chairman’s supporters this month over legal cases the former cricket star has decried as spurious.
"We are aware that there is a very menacing and irresponsible opposition here which has made use of violence, humiliated police, and destroyed the law and order," HRCP Chairperson Hina Jilani told a news conference in Lahore.
"Despite that, we are forced to say that we do not expect such behaviour by the state and government which includes retaliatory measures, vindictive, and vengeful measures."
Imran dissolved the two provincial assemblies he controlled at the start of the year in a bid to disrupt Shehbaz’s government.
Under the Constitution, elections must be held within 90 days, a deadline which lapsed. However, the Election Commission of Pakistan refused to set a date within the constitutional time period after the military said it was unable to ensure security.
The date of the elections were now tied up in legal wrangling.
"The dissolution of the assemblies were a very dangerous and incorrect political strategy in my view, and there was an agenda behind it," Jilani said of Imran's move.
"Despite that, we believe regular elections in Pakistan are extremely important."
Imran sent his MPs back to the upper house on Tuesday, nearly a year after he was ousted in a no-confidence vote and ordered his allies to abandon parliament.
He has since been snarled in dozens of legal cases, including for sedition and under Pakistan's anti-terrorism act.
Imran's supporters clashed with the police outside his Lahore home this month when officers arrived with an arrest warrant that was later suspended.
"Ultimately, the crux of the ongoing crisis is political and not legal," Jilani, a Supreme Court lawyer, said in a statement.
"There is no other option for the political opposition and the government but to hold serious and meaningful dialogue in parliament to resolve this in the larger interests of Pakistan's people."
Pakistan is also in the grip of a dire balance-of-payments crisis that has forced the government to implement strict financial measures in a bid to revive a stalled International Monetary Foundation bailout programme.
The measures have seen the rupee plummet and inflation soar and the crisis has left families struggling to afford basic food items and fuel.
In some extreme cases, parents have pulled children out of school and sent them to work.
The caretaker governments, which are severely limited in their day-to-day operations, are in place in the two dissolved parliaments of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab.