Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) president Maulana Fazlur Rehman said on Tuesday that after the surfacing of reports of former chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar's alleged involvement in keeping PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz jailed ahead of the 2018 general elections, the judiciary would now have to regain its status and restore people's trust in itself "through its character".
His statement comes in the wake of an investigative report, published in The News by journalist Ansar Abbasi, which quoted former top judge of Gilgit-Baltistan Rana Shamim as saying in an alleged affidavit that he had witnessed Nasir relaying instructions to a high court judge to not release the father-daughter duo in the corruption references against them. The report has given rise to a controversy, with Nisar denying the allegations.
It was followed days later by the emergence of a leaked audio clip, purportedly of a conversation between Nisar and an unidentified man regarding Nawaz and Maryam's trial. Nisar maintains that the voice in the clip is not his.
Speaking to reporters after a PDM meeting today, Fazl while referring to the said report and the audio clip, as well as the Supreme Court decision that disqualified Nawaz, said that while he respected the judiciary, "testimonies are being given against judges from within it".
"This has raised questions on judiciary's freedom and independence, and we believe that it will now have to regain its status and [people's] trust [in it] through its character," Fazl, who was accompanied by other senior opposition figures, said.
He added that any conspiracies hatched against an elected prime minister were actually "conspiracies against the country and its democratic system".
"And the people of Pakistan are facing the consequences of these conspiracies in the shape of inflation, unemployment and economic decline," the PDM president remarked.
'Electoral reforms an attack on ECP's authority'
Talking about the recently passed legislations for the use of electronic voting machines and granting of voting rights to overseas Pakistanis, he dubbed the electoral reforms "an attack on the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP)".
"The nation is demanding a free and independent election commission," he said, adding that the recent legislation for electoral reforms instead curbed its authority given by the Constitution. "This is unacceptable and a violation of the Constitution."
Fazl said such legislation was of no value and warned overseas Pakistanis against falling for the "government's deception".
"They (government) committed the biggest fraud in the history by promising 10 million jobs, but they deprived 5m people of their livelihoods. Likewise, they promised 5m houses, but went on to demolish around as many houses," he said, alleging that this "fake government" would deceive overseas Pakistanis in the same manner.
As an alternative to the government's electoral reforms, he said, the PDM would devise a policy for granting voting rights to overseas Pakistanis in light of the law and the Constitution.
The government's legislation would pave the way for rigging, Fazl alleged, saying "we reject this pre-poll rigging."
The PDM president also criticised the government for moving towards making the State Bank of Pakistan autonomous under an agreement with the International Monetary Fund.
"Nobody will then be able to question the State Bank and its matters will be handed over to an international institution," he said.
Concluding his address, Fazl announced that the next meeting of the PDM leadership would be held in Islamabad on December 6, following which a "final, definite and effective" strategy would be announced to "rid Pakistan of suppression".
He went on to say that inflation could only be controlled if the incumbent government was ousted and the PDM would devise a strategy to move towards the same.
Fazl added that a "big announcement" would be made after the PDM meeting on December 6.
from The Dawn News - Home https://ift.tt/3nMllzi
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