On the path to elections: Kaira urges Dr Qadri to register party with ECP

Minister says MQI chief should heed advice to join consultations on caretaker setup.

LAHORE:

Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira urged Minhajul Quran International (MQI) chief Tahirul Qadri to get his party registered with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in order to become a legitimate stakeholder and join consultations on the interim caretaker setup.

“Qadri does not want elections in the country without electoral reforms and wants to be part of consultations on a caretaker government, despite the fact that Tehreek Minhajul Quran is not registered with the ECP as a political party,” Kaira said while addressing the media after the 8th South Asian Free Media Association (Safma) conference at a hotel on Wednesday.

The information minister said Qadri could address the ECP, ask parliament and even approach the judiciary if he was not satisfied with the electoral reforms.

Speaking about Qadri’s much-hyped “million-man” march, Kaira said people have the right to congregate, protest and raise their voice to make their demands heard, but warned that nobody should defy the law. He added that the opposition, all political parties, the media and the entire nation have urged sanity regarding the long-march.

He said the onus was on the media and political parties to decide whether the suspension of state procedures by an individual was a constitutional right or a negation of it. Kaira claimed the government was not afraid of the long-march, adding that Qadri must elaborate on the slogan and aims of his march to Islamabad.



Urging “self-analysis”, Kaira said Qadri’s statements were self-contradictory as he claimed to have no desire to be a part of the government but still wanted to lead a march to the federal capital.

Vis-a-vis Article 62/63 of the Constitution, he said: “We are not bothered whether Article 62/63 applies to somebody or not. The decision will be taken when the field is set for the next elections.”

Speaking on the caretaker government setup, the information minister reiterated it would be decided in line with the Constitution, adding that a mandate of such a setup was only to facilitate the ECP.

“Elections will be free and fair besides being held on time,” Kaira stressed.

The minister further said the PPP-led coalition government wanted amicable relations with all countries in the region. There are many unresolved issues with India and relations would improve through dialogue, he said.

Touching on the issue of the recent cross-border ceasefire violations across the Line of Control, Kaira acknowledged the fact that such incidents created bitterness. However, he maintained that “such incidents cannot break or disrupt the dialogue process between Pakistan and India.”



Address to SAFMA

Earlier, in his address at the concluding ceremony of the Safma conference, Kaira suggested the formation of a South Asian Parliament, which, he said, would consolidate cooperation among regional countries.

He claimed the establishment of a South Asian Parliament would help member countries have common South Asian currency, South Asian collective security and South Asian Union on the lines of the European Union.

Kaira believed such steps would help South Asian countries to enhance cooperation in energy, communication, information, economic and tourism sectors.

(WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM APP)

Published in The Express Tribune, January 10^th, 2013.