ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said that imposition of governor’s rule in a province should be the last step, adding “we have made it difficult to impose it under the 18th Constitutional Amendment”.
The PPP chairman expressed these views in an informal talk with the media on Friday.
He said, “It is difficult to impose governor’s rule in a province. We have given power to the provincial assembly under the 18th Constitutional Amendment. If governor’s rule is imposed, it should not be forever.”
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However, clause 1 of Article 232 says if the president is satisfied that a grave emergency exists in which the security of Pakistan, or any part thereof, is threatened by war or external aggression, or by internal disturbance beyond the power of a provincial government to control, he may issue a proclamation of emergency.
But a proviso makes it clear that for imposition of emergency due to internal disturbances beyond the powers of a provincial government to control, a resolution from the provincial assembly concerned shall be required.
On the question of governor’s rule in KP, he said, “the PPP is against governor’s rule, but if governor’s rule is imposed in certain circumstances, then governor’s rule cannot be imposed for a long time in the presence of the 18th Constitutional amendment. We would always like to participate in the special committee of parliament in a democratic, constitutional and positive manner.”
He said that “his aim in politics is not to join the government. Our aim is to eradicate the problems of the people like inflation and poverty and to improve the economy of the country. Similarly, we want improvement in every institution.”
Answering a question about Constitutional amendment, he said the PPP wanted to establish sprit of Charter of Democracy (CoD) and working relationship. “After it, if we develop consensus then Constitutional amendment is possible. We are ready, if there is need of any new charter of democracy. We are out every thing but our stance will be democratic and according to Constitution. We will move positively,” he said.
While answering the questions of the journalists, Chairman Bilawal said the biggest task for any parliament was changes in legislation and changes in the constitution. He said that “this was demonstrated and was the first and the biggest success achieved by Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto when he gave a consensus Islamic democratic and federal constitution to the country. After that we restored the same constitution by the 18th amendment.”
He said that at present, every institution was facing one or the other challenge and everyone could see that that system was not working. He said that it was also known that the third generation of Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto had to wait for justice. “Now when this is the situation, a common man has to face many difficulties to get justice,” he said.
He said that recently there were incidents of terrorism in Balochistan and the situation in KP was even worse. He said the chief minister of KP was facing problems in his own village. “Terrorism has to be fought by the provincial and federal governments together.
At this time, it is seen for the first time that there are difficulties in giving peace to the people of Pakistan and it is the first time that politics is being done on this issue. There is a glimmer of hope since yesterday an all-party committee has been formed in Parliament to look into the issues.
We have established this committee willingly. There should be a working relationship in Parliament so that people’s problems can be resolved. If we do that, it will be a huge success.“
“One of them is the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which can work on every national issue and is very important. The NAB reforms which were in the CoD must also be implemented. NAB should not become an institution of political victimisation only. The CoD also contained points regarding the judiciary which were introduced by Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto to make the courts powerful and the courts to start functioning and to give quick and cheap justice to the common man.”
He said that “inflation is a huge problem at present and we all want suggestions to be given to reduce inflation and how inflation can be reduced and this can only be done through mutual consultation and discussion.” He said that currently, the problems of Pakistan were not being solved due to the politics of hatred.
Answering another question, he said that now Maulana Fazlur Rahman himself is included in the committee formed by the Speaker. “If the committee wants to amend the constitution, we will do it and if it doesn’t, we won’t. This committee is expected at least to formulate a code of conduct for Parliament,” he said.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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