Govt mocks MQI’s ‘impractical’ agenda
Kaira invites MQI chief to share his plan with govt.
Says Qadri wants to consult the army and judiciary in the formation of a caretaker setup but does not mention how exactly it can be done. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
ISLAMABAD:
Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira scoffed at the Minhaj-ul-Quran chief on Wednesday and termed his demands impractical.
“He wants the government, assemblies, parliament and the election commission to be dissolved and then get the caretaker government to himself. But if all these things are dissolved, how will new things be formed?” said Kaira while addressing a press conference at Parliament House.
“The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) cannot be dissolved merely at someone’s wishes,” he said, while adding that the four ECP officials whose credibility was questioned by Qadri were former judges and were appointed constitutionally by Parliament.
However, Kaira went on to invite Qadri to share his plan with the government and explain how it could be implemented. “Tell the nation how your demands can be fulfilled without going beyond the Constitution,” he added.
Speaking on behalf of the government, the information minister responded to the four demands put forward by Qadri and censured Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) call for the resignation of President Asif Ali Zardari. “This system is intact due to the presence of a political personality at the Presidency and he does not indulge in conspiracies,” he said.
In his speeches during the sit-in, the MQI chief has called for the immediate dissolution of Parliament and electoral reforms. On the other hand, his sudden appearance and fast-growing popularity has fuelled speculation that the establishment has tacitly endorsed his campaign.
Kaira, however, shied away from responding to questions like, “Who is behind Qadri?”, by simply saying, “I do not know what Qadri wants to do with those institutions by mentioning them in his speeches.”
The information minister also asked the media not to telecast Qadri’s long speeches and requested civil society not to get ‘trapped’ into Qadri’s spellbinding words. He also warned that the government had the option of using force to disrupt the marchers.
Poking fun at the cleric, Kaira referred several times to the presence of a large number of women protesters, saying, “Qadri was using women and children as shield … he should at least let them go.”
But the minister was caught off guard when asked if he had objections over the presence of women in sit-ins. “We do not have gender bias, all I want to say is that the women present in the sit-in are Qadri’s employees,” he said.
He said Qadri wants to consult the army and judiciary in the formation of a caretaker setup but does not mention how exactly it can be done.
He also advised Qadri to become a stakeholder, provide a manifesto, register his party, renounce his Canadian citizenship and run for elections to bring about a change through the Constitution.
The minister said that Qadri would be welcomed if he chose this path, but added that playing with peoples’ emotions and using religion for his purposes was “improper”.
Responding to a question regarding the government’s strategy following the Supreme Court’s order calling for the arrest of Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf in the Rental Power Projects (RPPs) case, the information minister said that “the government would act upon the judgment.”
Published in The Express Tribune, January 17th, 2013.
Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira scoffed at the Minhaj-ul-Quran chief on Wednesday and termed his demands impractical.
“He wants the government, assemblies, parliament and the election commission to be dissolved and then get the caretaker government to himself. But if all these things are dissolved, how will new things be formed?” said Kaira while addressing a press conference at Parliament House.
“The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) cannot be dissolved merely at someone’s wishes,” he said, while adding that the four ECP officials whose credibility was questioned by Qadri were former judges and were appointed constitutionally by Parliament.
However, Kaira went on to invite Qadri to share his plan with the government and explain how it could be implemented. “Tell the nation how your demands can be fulfilled without going beyond the Constitution,” he added.
Speaking on behalf of the government, the information minister responded to the four demands put forward by Qadri and censured Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) call for the resignation of President Asif Ali Zardari. “This system is intact due to the presence of a political personality at the Presidency and he does not indulge in conspiracies,” he said.
In his speeches during the sit-in, the MQI chief has called for the immediate dissolution of Parliament and electoral reforms. On the other hand, his sudden appearance and fast-growing popularity has fuelled speculation that the establishment has tacitly endorsed his campaign.
Kaira, however, shied away from responding to questions like, “Who is behind Qadri?”, by simply saying, “I do not know what Qadri wants to do with those institutions by mentioning them in his speeches.”
The information minister also asked the media not to telecast Qadri’s long speeches and requested civil society not to get ‘trapped’ into Qadri’s spellbinding words. He also warned that the government had the option of using force to disrupt the marchers.
Poking fun at the cleric, Kaira referred several times to the presence of a large number of women protesters, saying, “Qadri was using women and children as shield … he should at least let them go.”
But the minister was caught off guard when asked if he had objections over the presence of women in sit-ins. “We do not have gender bias, all I want to say is that the women present in the sit-in are Qadri’s employees,” he said.
He said Qadri wants to consult the army and judiciary in the formation of a caretaker setup but does not mention how exactly it can be done.
He also advised Qadri to become a stakeholder, provide a manifesto, register his party, renounce his Canadian citizenship and run for elections to bring about a change through the Constitution.
The minister said that Qadri would be welcomed if he chose this path, but added that playing with peoples’ emotions and using religion for his purposes was “improper”.
Responding to a question regarding the government’s strategy following the Supreme Court’s order calling for the arrest of Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf in the Rental Power Projects (RPPs) case, the information minister said that “the government would act upon the judgment.”
Published in The Express Tribune, January 17th, 2013.