NA Session: PTI blows up the ‘myth’ of democracy in danger

Shafqat Mahmood says hereditary politics is in fact a greater threat.

ISLAMABAD:

National Assembly session on Friday veered back to the Thursday debate started by Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai, who had requested the political forces to join hands to stave off ‘dangers to democracy’.

Picking up the threads of the previous day’s debate, PTI Shafqat Mahmood blasted the government and ‘some others’ for creating ‘the myth of danger to democracy’. He said PM Nawaz had a history of picking up fights.

“In his first term, he fought with army chiefs Aslam Beg, Asif Nawaz as well as president G I Khan, while in his second term developed a conflict with army chief Jehangir Karamat, CJ Sajjad Ali Shah, president Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari and later with Gen Musharraf, which resulted in a bloodless coup,” he said,

He asked why the government was shying away from bringing transparency in its affairs and introducing election reforms.

The PTI MNA said politics of heredity posed a greater threat to democracy. “Some 28 institutions are working without a head. This can be a threat to democracy.”  Mahmood claimed that the premier was not available even to his cabinet and it took them three to six months to seek approval of developmental projects.

He said Monopoly Control Authority (MCA) was being not allowed to audit the auction process of 3-G licences after receiving a complaint against the process.

Replying to Mahmood, Federal Minister Anusha Rehman said the MCA was a redundant body that was abolished a decade ago and now there was no such body as the MCA.  She said Competition Commission of Pakistan chief had also denied existence of any such complaint.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 14^th, 2014.