It’s not democracy, it’s kleptocracy: Imran

Tahirul Qadri accuses lawmakers of ignoring the spirit of the constitution .

ISLAMABAD:

While inside the Parliament, lawmakers reaffirmed their support for democracy and the Constitution, outside Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) leaders accused them of promoting ‘kleptocracy’ and ignoring the very essence of the Constitution.

“There is a difference between democracy and kleptocracy. Democracy means government by the people and for the people, while kleptocracy is the government in which the ruling clique exploits national resources,” PTI chairman Imran Khan told his supporters after MPs made fiery speeches in a joint sitting of the National Assembly and the Senate.



“In Pakistan, we have kleptocracy, not democracy,” Imran said in a detailed speech he had promised in his brief reaction to the joint session of the Parliament where lawmakers from both sides of the aisle came down hard on the PTI and PAT for their prolonged protest sit-ins in the federal capital.

“Today, these lawmakers gave us a lesson in democracy, but I want to remind them of Clause 3 of Article 218 of the Constitution [of Pakistan] which says that elections should be free, fair and transparent,” Imran said.

All political parties in the Parliament have admitted that the 2013 parliamentary elections were massively rigged, but they aren’t agitating the issue because they have a ‘clandestine understanding’ to hide each other’s corrupt practices, he said.

“Even Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had conceded on the floor of the National Assembly that 60,000 to 70,000 votes in each constituency couldn’t be verified,” he added. “Now, name any democracy in the world that will accept such an election.” He said a transparent election was a must for a true, representative democracy.

The PTI chairman alleged that the ruling party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, was the beneficiary of the electoral fraud which was why it was unwilling to investigate the complaints of massive rigging in 98 constituencies of Punjab.



Justifying his demand for the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, he said it was a norm in modern Western democracies that “if a public office-holder is accused of a crime, he steps down to ensure a transparent inquiry against him or her”.

The PTI chairman reiterated his resolve to continue his protest against the electoral fraud until it was independently investigated. “I will either wrest back Azadi (independence) or embrace death,” he said. “Even if all of you leave me, your Kaptaan has the stamina to stay here in this [shipping] container,” he said, addressing his supporters who responded in unison that they would not leave their leader.

Referring to the speech of the dissident president of his party in the Parliament, Imran said he was deeply saddened by the allegations of Javed Hashmi who accused the party chairman of ‘acting at someone’s behest’. “I didn’t respect anyone more than Hashmi Sahib. And he knows it very well that I never take dictation from anyone,” Imran said. “In our internal meetings 13 months ago, I had told my colleagues, including Hashmi Sahiib, that if the government didn’t accept our demand for the audit of votes in four constituencies, we will take to the streets by next summer,” he said.

Imran said that Javed Hashmi accused him of having contacts in the army and the judiciary even though the two institutions were headed by different individuals at the time when he had expressed his resolve to hold protests.

“I’m not power hungry. If I had such ambition, I would have accepted General Musharraf’s offer to become prime minister, I would have taken up General Ziaul Haq’s offer to become a federal minister in 1988,” he added.

Before Imran Khan’s speech PAT leader Dr Tahirul Qadri also came over to his custom-built container after the sound system on his own container broke down. He said the federal lawmakers didn’t recognise the Constitution they vowed to uphold in the house.

“In the last 41 years of Pakistan’s history, the articles that promise citizens liberty and equality have never been implemented,” he said while summarising 40 Articles of the Constitution of Pakistan. He said PAT supporters on August 10 were coming for Youm-e-Shuhuda to Lahore, not to take over the parliament.


Published in The Express Tribune, September 3^rd, 2014.