ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has alleged that judiciary is responsible for the political crisis in the country and a ‘dead political party’ was resurrected through its judgment.
Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly on Friday, he said, “distance among the institutions is increasing and one institution is interfering (in the Parliament) repeatedly. The history of judiciary is before everyone. No one sitting in this House is responsible for the current crisis in the country. Only the court was and is the reason for the crisis”.
He said not me, not the Speaker, not the members, PM or the Parliament but the judiciary itself is responsible for this crisis. This is a crisis of the judiciary, by the judiciary and for the judiciary.
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“Our judiciary has also broken the world records. Pakistan’s judiciary is so capable that it not only runs the court but also builds dams. The judiciary can even combat inflation and set the prices of tomatoes and Samosas.”
“No judiciary in the world can compete with our judiciary. The citizens of the country still await justice. We are thankful to the judiciary to have given us justice after a three-generation long struggle on our end, that began with Quaid-e-Awam Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s martyrdom. They admitted that he was not given a fair trial, but they could not take any clear step to right this wrong,” he said.
The PPP chairman said that in Pakistan, currently, a storm in a teacup is being transformed into a full-blown constitutional crisis. He said that the Leader of the Opposition should be asked whether it was us who snatched their symbol. “It was the court that stated that their internal party elections were rigged which is why they could not get a symbol and would not be considered a political party. This last-minute decision benefited a dead political party, with no election campaign, which mobilised it. It is now being said that this was not the intention. A decision then was made to distribute the seats among them as if they are candies,” he said.
He said that as long as this country does not adopt the Constitution, law and a democratic demeanour, and its institutions not work within their boundaries, the purpose behind building this city and our presence here would remain futile. Our only advice would be for political discourse to take place to reclaim the space of politician’s sans the political hatred and division,“ he said.
The PPP chairman said that we are witnessing a plethora of crises, and have not been able to effectively address issues such as inflation and worsening law and order. He said that we are not even able to form the bare minimum consensus on protecting the country from terrorism. “We are hurling insults at each other on the television. We would have to devise a way to compete with each other within political domains. We have to resolve the issues faced by the people,” he said.
While citing an example, he said that the political workers are closely monitoring the situation in Bangladesh.
Bilawal said that the talents of the Pakistani youth and the skills of our labourers have turned vast deserts such as the Middle East into major cities.
He said that there is every possible resource available within Pakistan. He said that Islamabad was made only to serve the people of the country. These buildings house the biggest institutions of the country. He said that there is the presence of an entire battalion of bureaucracy in the country along with all the politicians and other powerful entities.
He said that; however, ever since this city was made, we have never fulfilled the purpose for what it was created. “We begin concocting conspiracies and fighting amongst one another. We keep bearing losses due to the infighting between politicians and the adventurism of the military generals. The politics of hate and division is at the peak, with unprecedented polarisation,” he said.
During Bilawal’s speech, the opposition members stood from their seats and said that Bilawal should avoid politics at this time as honourable guests Imam Masjid Al-Nabawi, Dr Salah bin Mohammad Al-Budair and Saudi Ambassador to Pakistan Nawaf bin Saeed Ahmad Al-Malki are sitting to observe proceedings of the National Assembly today (Friday).
While responding to Bilawal, Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan said that we do not want to create bad atmosphere in the house in the present of the honourable guests. He said that Bilawal has remained foreign minister, he should sustain good atmosphere in the house. “Bilawal’s speech seems as he is come into house from parade ground,” he said.
Maulana Fazlur Rehman said that we should put the internal politics in other day. We should talk about international issue such are Palestine, Kashmir, Muslim Ummah and relations with Saudi Arabia.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024