KARACHI: Former prime minister and Awam Pakistan Party chief Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said on Thursday that when the Constitution and law come under pressure, it is the legal community that speaks the truth while politicians often remain silent out of expediency.
Speaking to lawyers at the City Courts, he said that many rulers had come to power through different means, each introducing new “formulas” for national progress, sometimes promising development in Gwadar, at other times in Thar. “No country can progress without the rule of law,” he emphasised, adding that the youth remain Pakistan’s greatest asset.
Abbasi lamented that although the first chapter of the Constitution guarantees fundamental rights, citizens have yet to receive them. He said constitutional amendments have mostly served to benefit those in power, adding that the 26th Amendment was inconsistent with the Constitution but was still implemented.
Criticizing the current government, Abbasi claimed that the judiciary had been brought under its control and that the country no longer had a functioning justice system. “The only solution lies in the supremacy of law,” he said, warning that Pakistan could not afford further political experiments.
He also alleged that most lawmakers in the assemblies had “bought their way in” and urged the government to play a proactive role in empowering young people.
Speaking to lawyers, former finance minister Miftah Ismail said the practice of depriving winning candidates of their mandates was the root cause of Pakistan’s problems. He added that the government had failed to deliver anything meaningful to the people over the past three years, during which time the country had faced severe economic hardship.
“Tax and gas rates in Pakistan are the highest in the region,” Ismail noted. He said Karachi’s condition reflected the broader failure of both federal and provincial governments, and called for a “new vision” — one he said Abbasi was trying to bring forward.