The recent political hullabaloo was propelled into a further spiral after the (voluntary) parliamentary statement of the prime minister on August 30, 2014. The prime minister accused the protesting parties of calling upon the Big Boys to mediate the current political impasse in the capital, only to be horribly exposed that in fact it was actually our prime minister himself who requested their assistance. Now, the major problem that arises for the prime minister is that he stated this falsehood on the floor of the National Assembly, which is the primary forum for parliamentarians to discuss matters of national importance, and where he stood and took his oath of allegiance. The question that arises is how can the premier continue in office with this looming over his head? Very simple, in Pakistani politics nothing appears impossible and so with a commanding majority in Parliament (assuming his party doesn’t have internal conflicts) he can sit back and pray for the heat to cool down. The next question that follows is what should the protesting parties’ next course of action be due to the premier’s lack of resignation? The answer in my opinion is as follows: the protesting parties should petition the Honourable Court seeking a declaration to the effect that the premier can no longer hold office, based on the following grounds: first and foremost he is in prima facie breach of his Oath of Office (as per 3rd Schedule of the Constitution) which specifically states “I will discharge my duties and perform my functions, honestly [sic] faithfully [sic] in the interest of [sic] integrity, solidarity, well-being and prosperity of Pakistan…”. The last paragraph of the oath states he will not directly or indirectly communicate or reveal to any person any matter brought to him as prime minister, except as may be required for discharge of his duties. In my opinion, he appears guilty on both counts, the first count being obvious and the second count because he voluntarily revealed (and lied about) a matter which was for his personal consideration in his capacity as PM.
Secondly, his actions also appear prima facie violative of Article 62(f) of the Constitution which holds the mandatory requirement of being honest and amin (amongst other traits) for being eligible for Parliament. A well-argued case would further seek to have him additionally declared as having acted against the ideology, integrity and sovereignty of Pakistan, as well as possibly defaming and ridiculing the armed forces, punishable by disqualification from Parliament under Article 63(g) of the Constitution. Clarity in the matter of disqualification from Parliament should also be specifically sought by the petitioner so the Court may remove any doubt or question that may otherwise arise post-judgment.
This in my opinion would resolve the issue and let the country move on. My last thought on this subject is that in civilised nations, people resign on moral and ethical grounds, without the need to be pushed out. The prime minister should not even debate as to whether to remain in office or not, as he himself should in all sense and sensibility resign to maintain the dignity of state. But his adamant refusal for the same perhaps shows our sad and selfish political nature of “(selected) individual before the country”, something we should all strive to change.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 12th, 2014.
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COMMENTS (8)
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Mr.Osman Hadi, what a bright idea where hv u been so far, having said that, i accuse u of illegally occupying my house where u live now, but until u leave that house voluntarily and prove in a court which i recommend that u own that house legally... could you please not even debate as to whether to remain in that house or not, as you yourself should in all sense and sensibility resign(evacuate) to maintain the dignity of the house. Now hv sweet dreams.
@Anon Sarcasm is quite nice and yes you have right to ask for any one's resignation. That said, there is your limit. The some one, in this case, PM MUST to scumbumb to this rhetoric and set up a joke precedence. If you care about all the points in your sarcasm, the only way is through power of your vote. If you think your vote was stole, now is the time time commit to electrol reforms when entire nation and military is watching proceedings. If something comes out of than we talk about resignation and I will support you.
Not this way, that a maniac dreams up something all day and come in night and makes up stories and because he thinks his stories are true and some one should resign? As for people killed, what people killed? you mean those in mob fighting police and resisting law enforcement or those who tried to take over National institution. Sorry again but no one needs to resign for a mob vs mob fight in model town.
The people who want change like @Mazher how about for change we start looking at the complete picture and learn to understand law and innocent until proven guilty before jumping to conclusions and demanding resignations. Think about it, I think there is a lot of room for improvement
Finally, yes I the RENTED INQUILLABIES under TUQ are now exposed, what about justice for them, why and when we will talk about these poor souls braught in by a Cleric and now not allowed to leave. What about the women and children used as human shield, that are not there because they want to but they are rented and slaved to be there? What about justice for them. Finally, for Maniac on the other side, for whom every one is evil but he is a pure soul, things would have WORKED OUT had he gotten PEOPLE but he FAILED, few hundred or few thousand will not make any one RESIGN. He FAILED and needs to accept his defeat.
Hope my comment go through!
"The PM should not even debate as to whether to remain in office or not, he should resign to maintain dignity of state." So the dignity of the State is maintained by bowing before mobs? To give in to demagogues who are attempting to subvert the State? To give in to those who attacked the State by attacking the Parliament House and tried to break the door of the President's House? What are you talking about? You have a perverse logic. The dignity of the State is upheld by defying the those that are defying the State and a Constitutional Government.
Nicely argued and in a civilized environment this would work......in an environment where good governance is non existent, morals are non existent, justice is not credible......I doubt it.
Does anyone want a change? Yes everyone wants it but no one wants to work for it. So how will the change come then? Bringing the change is hard for the people. To bring a change the first unpalatable thing people have to do is to change themselves. Give up their bad habits and embrace good habits. Among the bad habits the worst yet most commonly loved by the people is "Arrogance". People are not prepared to change themselves so we should forget about seeing any change coming. To bring the change the other unpalatable thing people have to do is to abandon their delicious slumber and wake up. Wake up to become active in joining hands with others to work to bring improvement in the environment of the localities where they live. Once people wake up to come together to raise their voices, to co-operate among themselves to bring moral and material improvement in their localities they will be on the way to achieve anything and eveerything they work for peacefully upholding justice at all the times. By the way how many members and supporters of PTI can be seen to be upholding a rare commodity i.e. JUSTICE?
Good one Osman Hadi, it is rare article that is sane and sensible , sense and sanity being a rare commodity now. IK /Qadri bashing being the flavour of the season These ' rented slaves' and their "maniacal" leader (s), have shown the guts and gumption , to expose the so called democracy on display in the Parliament. They have woken up the masses and shaken up the rulers and their friendly opponents as never before. We are being educated about our constitutional rights and learning all about the horrendous sins of omission and commission by the ruling elite.
@H chaudhry: Quite right! Politicians are elected to lie, cheat, steal and kill people.... what kind of precedent would we be setting if we asked the PM to resign over these very things?
As our helpful politician friends from the PPP told us last time... "This is our right!"
Absolutely NOT. No Resignation Whatsoever. Period. Is this joke, you rent couple thousand slaves or get few hundred workers and PM resigns. No way never ever! Time to use simple press ignore button by govt, push protestors in to area where they don't disrupt public life and move on. Do the electro reforms or whatever, no need to waste any more time talking to a maniac.