Judiciary turned storm in a teacup into full-blown constitutional crisis: Bilawal

PPP chief says last-minute symbol snatching benefitted ‘a dead political party’, reserved seats distributed as ‘candy’

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari held on Friday the judiciary as responsible for the current crisis on the reserved seats, saying the judiciary not only turned a storm in a teacup into a full-blown constitutional crisis but the last-minute symbol snatching benefitted a dead political party – the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

The PPP chairman while speaking on the floor of the National Assembly lashed out at the higher judiciary for its decisions regarding PTI before and after the general elections, especially on the matter of reserved seats, saying the seats were being distributed amongst them as if they were “candy”.

“In Pakistan currently, a storm in a teacup is being transformed into a full-blown constitutional crisis,” the PPP chief said, “not me, not the speaker, not the members, PM or the Parliament but the judiciary itself is responsible for this crisis.” He further added that “this is a crisis of the judiciary, by the judiciary and for the judiciary.”

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During his speech, the PPP chairman said that the Leader of the Opposition in NA, Omar Ayub, should be asked whether it was the ruling political parties who snatched PTI’s iconic ‘bat’ symbol. Bilawal then answered himself by saying that it was the court that stated that their internal elections were rigged which is why they could not get a symbol and would not be considered a political party.

“This last-minute decision benefitted a dead political party, with no election campaign,” Bilawal said, saying “it mobilised it [PTI].” Referring to recent clarification by the Supreme Court that this was not the intention behind depriving the PTI of bat symbol, Bilawal quipped: “A decision then was made to distribute the seats amongst them as if they are candy.”

As long as the country does not adopt the Constitution, law and a democratic demeanour, and its institutions not work within their boundaries, Bilawal maintained, the purpose behind building this city – Islamabad – and lawmakers’ presence would remain futile. “Our only advice would be for political discourse to take place to reclaim the space of politicians sans the political hatred and division,” he said.

Meanwhile, while speaking in the assembly, Bilawal said that the country was witnessing a plethora of crises, and has not been able to effectively address issues such as inflation and worsening law and order. “We are not even able to form the bare minimum consensus on protecting the country from terrorism,” he regretted.

While further regretting that “we are hurling insults at each other on the television”, Bilawal urged that we would have to devise a way to compete with each other within political domains and try to resolve the issues faced by the people.

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The political workers are closely monitoring the situation in Bangladesh, Bilawal said, while citing an example. The protests that erupted there were over a quota for the martyrs of their Army, he said, adding the quota had been removed by ex-PM Sheikh Haseena Wajid herself in 2018 but was restored by the court. “The protests could not be stopped and Hasina Wajid had to leave her post,” Bilawal said, “the entire region should learn from this and address the real issues of the people.”

Chairman Bilawal said that the crisis of the month is the distance between institutions, noting that it is being created by the continuous interference of “an institution [judiciary] with this institution [Parliament]”.

The history of the judiciary is before the entire country, he said, adding, “Our judiciary has also broken world records; Pakistan’s judiciary is so capable that it not only runs the court but also builds dams.” “The judiciary can even combat inflation and set the prices of tomatoes and samosas,” he said, “no judiciary in the world can compete with our judiciary.”

Chairman Bilawal said that the citizens of the country still await justice but “we are thankful to the judiciary to have given us justice after a three-generation long struggle on our end, that began with Quaid-e-Awam Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s martyrdom.” The judiciary admitted that he was not given a fair trial, he said, but they could not take any clear step to right this wrong.

Meanwhile, Bilawal congratulated Olympic champion, Arshad Nadeem, on his victory in the Paris Olympics. He said that Arshad made history by creating a new Olympic record and bringing home the gold medal for Pakistan. “This is proof that the Pakistani youth, when given the opportunity, emerge victorious,” he said.

Bilawal called for consensus in the House over supporting youth in Pakistan, as they are capable of achieving such accolades. In Lyari alone, he said, every other youngster is capable of bringing home the FIFA World Cup due to the influx of talent. The PPP chief said that recently, he met young girls in Peshawar who are competing in Taekwondo from DI Khan and bringing medals for Pakistan.

“It is unfortunate that neither the federal government nor the provincial government provided the necessary support,” he noted, “in the next Olympics, every province of Pakistan should win a medal.” He also advised the Federal Minister for Sports to establish an endowment fund in collaboration with all provincial ministers for this purpose.

Bilawal said that the talents of the Pakistani youth and the skills of the labour have turned vast deserts such as the Middle East into major cities. He said that there is every possible resource available within Pakistan. Islamabad was made only to serve the people of the country, he said, these buildings house the biggest institutions of the country.

There is the presence of an entire battalion of bureaucracy in the country along with all the politicians and other powerful entities. However, he noted, ever since this city was made, we have never fulfilled the purpose for what it was created. “We begin concocting conspiracies and fighting amongst one another,” Bilawal said, “we keep bearing losses due to the infighting between politicians and the adventurism of the military generals.”

“The politics of hate and division is at the peak with unprecedented polarisation,” he regretted.