Says Panama case being used to thwart economic progress of Pakistan
KARACHI: Jamiat Ulema-e- Islam (F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said that he was expecting justice from the court on the issue of report submitted by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) instead of expecting it from Tehrik-e-Insaf. Addressing a press conference here at the Governor House on Saturday, the JUI-F chief said that the demand for resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif should be raised once the Supreme Court has delivered its judgment. He said that Nawaz Sharif had presented himself whenever he was summoned, however, whenever Pervez Musharraf was summoned by the court, he got hospitalised. Fazl said that political parties causing turbulence in the country in the name of democracy and corruption should rectify their attitude. He said that Pakistan had been encircled by international conspiracies. “We should avoid becoming a toy in the hands of forces, trying to destabilise Pakistan,” he said. “If the democratic setup of the country is damaged, it will leave people of the country aggrieved.” He said that political forces should show maturity in doing politics as adopting a soft stance would be helpful in preventing any unnatural change in the country. He said that the political sphere of Pakistan was getting divided as on one side there were political parties in favour of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, while on the other side there were parties opposing the project. Fazl said that the Panama case was being used to thwart economic and trade progress of Pakistan as this matter had nothing to do with corruption. He said: “We are trying that the institutions remain neutral as CPEC should bemade successful without making them a party. It is very encouraging that the Pak Army has become a guarantor for making CPEC successful - as this guarantee would only be successful when the nation would back the Pak Army.” Fazl said that tales and news of corruptionwere always aired against the ruling political party, as when the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had been in power, Asif Ali Zardari and Yousaf Raza Gillani were in the limelight. “Later on, when PPP was not in power,media was not reporting on their cases,” he explained. The JUI-F chief said that he was a political activist of Pakistan as he also possessed experience as he analysed national situation in the backdrop of international situation. “The future will only tell whether I am saving anyone or saving the country,” he said. To a question, he said that it was up to the constitutional experts to decide whether or not the judiciary had used its powers in the administrative domain. Fazl said that he did have reservation regarding the National Accountability Bureau. “When 18th Amendment was getting passed, we urged both, the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) and PPP, to include the subject of accountability in it but my demand was not accepted,” he claimed. He said that Opposition Leader in National Assembly Khursheed Ahmed Shah should realise that democracy could not be saved by standing with the forces,whowanted to derail democracy. Fazl said thatworldwas getting divided as the present scheme of things was named as the ‘great game’. He added that Pakistan had rightly identified its future. He said that the 70- year-old friendship of Pakistan and China had transformed into economic partnership, adding that Pakistan, China, and Russia were getting closer to each other for the sake of doing progress. The JUI-F chief said that America and India had come closer to each other to thwart economic flight of Pakistan. He said that instability had been caused in Pakistan through economic turmoil in order to sabotage economic progress achieved by the country as growth rate of Pakistani economy had soared to the record level. He said that sometimes terrorismwas used, while other times economic and political turmoilwas created to cause instability in the country. Sindh GovernorMohammad Zubair, while addressing the press conference alongwith the JUI-F chief, said that an attempt was being made to cause political crisis in the country as opposition political parties should wait for judgment of the Supreme Court. The governor said that it was undue part of the opposition political parties to demand resignation of PM merely on submission of report by the JIT. He said that Nawaz Sharif had been elected as the PM by the nation and he should not resign as he was not an unelected PM. He said that the JUI-F had played a positive part in the protest sit-ins of the past as he hoped that cooperation of Maulana Fazlur Rehman would remain available to the govt.