ISLAMABAD: PMLN’s Mushahid Hussain Sayed proposed in the Senate on Tuesday the formation of a national unity or a three-party (PTI, PML-N, PPP) government, warning if this political initiative was lost, then all roads would lead to Rawalpindi, to the GHQ.
Speaking on the motion over the situation arising from controversial results of the recent elections, Senator Mushahid Hussain said that the situation had changed after the February 8 (elections) and there was a need for a healing touch. He demanded that all the political prisoners, including Imran Khan and missing persons, be they in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa or elsewhere, should be freed. “There should be an inclusive government or the three parties i.e. PTI, PML-N and PPP should form a government as everyone has suffered from the hanging of Z A Bhutto, which was a judicial murder, the persecution of PPP, to soft coups against Nawaz Sharif, his exile which I witnessed as a journalist at that time,” he noted.
Referring to PTI’s sit-in in 2014, the PMLN senator alleged that it was also staged at the behest of the security establishment against a democratically-elected government without justification. This followed a soft coup against the PMLN government on July 28, 2017, which led to the elected premier being handcuffed. “The establishment cannot act on its own unless it has its allies/partners (in political parties),” he maintained. He alleged the establishment staged a soft coup by using the judiciary against Nawaz Sharif in 2017 which followed another against the Imran Khan government in 2022. He called for a general amnesty for the political prisoners and wondered if there could be talks with TTP terrorists in Kabul, who had killed our people, then why dialogue could not be held with the political parties.
Mushahid said that the past was over and February 8 was a new day which led the way forward. The situation has presented the political parties with an initiative to form a national unity government of three major parties and insisted on respecting the mandate of every party. “If the political parties will not take the initiative, then this initiative will go to the GHQ and then they will decide with a cane in hand. Do we want this humiliation again like in the past,” he contended. He acknowledged that in the recent elections, PTI had emerged as the single largest party.
The PMLN legislator believed that the biggest responsibility lies with Mian Nawaz Sharif to take the initiative and said there should not be a talk of a third or fourth term. He should demonstrate leadership, let the PPP come forward and form a government with the PTI, and Nawaz may become the head of the state. Once upon a time, there had been a great friendship between the two (Nawaz and Imran) which can be rekindled again. “And, if we don’t do that, then all roads will lead to Rawalpindi. Learn from the past mistakes, don’t repeat them,” he warned.
Earlier, Senator Tahir Bizenjo of the National Party, who was the first to speak on the motion on the recent general elections, regretted the Constitution was framed 50 years ago but still, the face of democracy remains ‘blurred’. He said elections have also been controversial in the past but the recent one is the most controversial ever. “In Balochistan, the genuine representatives were made to lose and drug lords and land grabbers were sent to the assemblies,” he charged. He asked if the judiciary had the right to snatch PTI’s symbol. “I repeat unless and until the gunners and those, having a hammer in their hands, will not do their jobs, the country will remain mired in crises,” he said. Bizenjo alleged the Election Commission’s topmost responsibility was to conduct free and fair elections, which it had failed and it was his strong demand that the chief election commissioner should be arrested and a case of the Constitution’s violation must be instituted against him.
Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Senator Mushtaq Ahmed demanded the resignation of the chief election commissioner and the initiation of the proceedings of high treason against him. “The ballot paper, the ballot box and the people’s right to rule has been assaulted in this rigged election.” He demanded that a judicial commission should be formed at the Supreme Court level to investigate alleged manipulations in Form-45.
Speaking on the occasion, Senator Umer Farooq of Awami National Party said both the winners and losers were disappointed in the elections but none was talking about who had stolen their mandate. He regretted the leadership of the major parties who were persecuted but despite that, they compromised with the same forces to grab power. Senator Farooq said those who remained silent on the missing persons were today talking about the missing mandate and one day, the entire system might go packing if things were not retrieved from the point of no return.
PTI’s Aun Abbas delivered an emotional speech and talked about his agony following the May 9 events and how his mother suffered a paralysis attack when he went missing for 14 days. “In fact, I was taken away somewhere.” He recalled only after recording a 20-second video statement, he was freed. “If this state does not give me the freedom to speak and express, then what is the justification,” he noted.
PTI’s Zeeshan Khanzada decried how his party was treated during the last two years and claimed Imran, who was a leader, had been made a hero by putting him in jail. He demanded that the party’s mandate be respected and Imran should be allowed to form the government to steer the country out of the crises.
PTI’s Ali Zafar said that the youth brought ‘a revolution of hope’ despite pre-poll rigging. He also talked about post-poll rigging done in the darkness of night after failure to get the desired results. He warned of anarchy and unrest in the country if those who were given a mandate by the people were not given the right to rule.
Pakhtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PMAP) Senator Sardar Shafiq Tareen alleged that three constituencies in Balochistan were sold out against Rs1.5 billion, whereas winners were declared losers through post-election rigging. The House will now meet again on Friday morning.
