Political turmoil: PM says judiciary is not conspiring against govt

Nawaz belittles threats from ‘a handful of people’.

LONDON/ ISLAMABAD:

Amidst a persisting political impasse back home, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on Monday that he didn’t believe the judiciary was conspiring against his government. The statement coincided with the adjournment of petitions in the Supreme Court seeking disqualification of the prime minister on perjury charge.

To substantiate his viewpoint, the prime minister referred to the August 13 short order of the Lahore High Court in which the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) were restrained from staging marches or sit-ins in an ‘unconstitutional way’ and another court observation when the PTI and PAT marchers had entered the high-security Red Zone of Islamabad.

Talking briefly to reporters before heading to the Heathrow airport, Nawaz said that his government was serving the masses relentlessly despite the political turmoil caused by the ongoing sit-ins of the PTI and PAT. He added that he did not want to talk about those who were engaged in negative politics.

The premier said that the political turmoil has caused colossal damage to the national economy and negatively impacted the country’s politics. The entire nation has witnessed that the PTI and PAT marchers violated the sanctity of the Parliament House by breaking into its premises.

The government is not afraid of a ‘handful of people’ camping on the Constitution Avenue as they pose no threat to the democratic set-up, he said. He added that the recent joint session of parliament played a significant role in strengthening democracy.



Asked about the two massive political rallies of the PTI in Karachi and Lahore, the prime minister said that his government could not be bullied with such jalsas. “The PML-N has yet not decided on staging rallies. When we stage rallies, everyone will see [the turnout],” he added.

The protesting parties have been calling for an overhaul of the current political system. Premier Nawaz said that his government also wanted to remove anomalies wherever existed in the system.

The prime minister, who made a two-night stopover in London on his way back home after attending the 69th UN General Assembly in New York, said that his stance on the longstanding Kashmir dispute represented the aspirations of the people of Pakistan.

Later, the prime minister returned home where he was warmly welcomed by Kashmiris and Hurriyat leaders at the Noor Khan airbase in Rawalpindi. The leadership of Kashmir, including AJK Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majeed, leader of the opposition in the AJK Legislative Assembly Raja Farooq Haider, Hurriyat Leader of AJK Chapter Yusuf Naseem and members of the AJK Cabinet were present to receive him. They congratulated the prime minister on his ‘historic speech’ at the UN General Assembly.

Talking to the media, the AJK prime minister said that Nawaz Sharif boldly presented Pakistan’s stance on Kashmir. “During his speech at the UNGA the prime minister strongly pleaded the case of Kashmiris by highlighting the issue in its true perspective,” he added.

SC adjourns hearing

Earlier in the day, a Supreme Court bench adjourned hearing on the pleas seeking disqualification of Premier Nawaz for lying on the floor of the National Assembly. The court, during a brief hearing, rejected the plea of one of the petitioners seeking a larger bench but allowed him to approach the chief justice of Pakistan for the purpose.

The petitions were filed by Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Ishaq Khan Khakwani and lawyer Gohar Nawaz.

The petitioners are seeking the premier’s disqualification under Article 62 (f) of the Constitution – contending that the prime minister had given a ‘false statement’ in parliament regarding the involvement of the Army chief in negotiating with the PTI and PAT leaders.

The petitioners contended that Nawaz was also involved in matters related to the attack on the Supreme Court, as well as going abroad for 10 years after signing a pardon agreement with former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, but denied making such an agreement.

The bench observed that as one of its members is part of a larger bench being assembled at 1pm, therefore, the case will be taken up on Thursday (October 2). Earlier, the bench took up this matter after the court’s recess but the petitioners’ counsels were not present in the courtroom.


Published in The Express Tribune, September 30^th, 2014.