Amid rumourmongering, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza on Monday outrightly ruled out any undemocratic change, saying that there is no possibility of imposition of martial law‚ caretaker government or a technocrat set-up in the country.
"I would like to assure the House that there is no possibility of imposition of martial law, caretaker government or a technocrat setup in the country," said the prime minister, adding that only Parliamentary democracy would prevail in the country, as enunciated by the Constitution irrespective of whoever is in power.
He was responding to points raised by leader of the opposition in National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, who questioned the prime minister's statement terming the memo as a non-issue. The prime minister said the people of Pakistan and the PPP workers and leaders had rendered great sacrifices for democracy and it was their responsibility to safeguard the system. He further said that the media‚ civil society‚ political parties and the international community was not in favour of any undemocratic change.
He also appreciated the statements of PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif and leader of the opposition Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan that their party would firmly stand against any undemocratic move in the country. "I would like to give you in writing that our party (PML-N) would strongly resist any undemocratic move," said Chaudhry Nisar while speaking on a point of order. Nisar urged the government to derive its stregth from the parliament and not from meeting of the prime minister with Army Chief or Director General Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). He further said that in such a critical situation, parliament was the only ray of hope and any unconstitutional move would be thwarted jointly.
But at the same time, the leader of the opposition raised serious reservations over the prime minister's statement for describing the 'memo' as non-issue, saying that under which law, the prime minister described the memo as non-issue when the matter was pending in the court.
"If the memo is non-issue, then why Army Chief and DG ISI are not being convinced and why the prime minister held meeting for three hours with army chief?" he added. He further asked that if Prime Minister had been convinced with the statement of American General James John, why not with the replies submitted to the apex court by Army Chief and DG ISI.
He was of the view that the memo case had mystified and weakened the government and the prime minister had to hold meetings with the Army Chief to rebuild government's confidence. Nisar also welcomed President Zardari's return to Pakistan but at the same time questioned various conflicting statements of different ministers regarding his health conditions. The leader of the opposition was also critical of the government for the low pressure and load shedding of gas in twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad asking the government to take immediate measures to redress the issue.
He said the minister instead of focusing on matters of his ministries appeared to be a personal physician of the president. "The ministers are engaged in making their jobs secure and they have no interest whatsoever in the people's problems," he maintained.
Meanwhile, responding to the points raised by leader of the opposition, Minister for Religious Affairs Syed Khursheed Shah said that the government respected all institutions including judiciary and army.
He, however, termed the memo as a mere 'piece of paper' saying that the government was being dragged into a non-issue. "Why are we ought to disregard our nation in such a way," he asked, adding that in the past the conspiracies like the memo had been hatched and the judges been used.
He also cited the PML-N's clash with the former chief justice Sajjad Ali Shah and the subsequent attack on the Supreme Court, which resulted in ousting of democratically elected government. He also urged the opposition to criticise the government remaining within the limits of dignity and decency. Referring to the matter of low pressure and load shedding of natural gas in the twin cities, the minister said that areas where there were CNG stations were facing low pressure, adding that there was no load shedding for domestic consumers in the country.He further said that the issue would be resolved as soon as the matter of stay order by Islamabad High Court was decided.
Earlier, PML-N lawmakers from Rawalpindi, Hanif Abbasi and Malik Shakil Awan diverted attention of the house towards the protest of the people on the streets of Rawalpindi blocking the entry road to the Federal Capital for hours against gas load shedding.