Achakzai again moots idea of national govt

ISLAMABAD: The Tehreek Tahafuz Aiyeen-e-Pakistan Chairman, Mehmood Khan Achakzai, Wednesday said the country would move forward only when a true public representative government would be installed and allowed to work.

“I again propose to form a national government. All political parties should sign the public interest charter. All should pledge to respect the mandate and promote tolerance. The public should be made a witness to it and performance should be the standard,” he said while talking to journalists here at the Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM)’s Central Secretariat in Banigala.“Your choice and your desire to form a regime has brought the country to this juncture. Now let the people decide through their vote as they had already rejected major parties and voted for PTI, but it was denied the right to rule,” he said.

The trend of someone’s choice, he claimed, had brought the only nuclear power in the Muslim world to this level that the name of Netanyahu could not be spoken here.

He lamented that the principles in the country are different, as those who sell and buy loyalties are called honourable while others are looked down upon. “One’s inability to side with the oppressed casts doubt on his faith, as our religion calls for supporting the oppressed,” he noted.

Achakzai decried the fact that democracy was not allowed to grow and insisted those sitting in closed rooms could not stay among the masses. He strongly advocated for allowing every segment of society to be in parliament and should be permitted to speak and heard.

“On the contrary, friends are shown on big screen while delivering speeches,” he maintained. He clarified that they had planned a conference but it could not be held, as leaders were busy in their respective areas in connection with the August 14 celebrations.

He asked what kind of parliament it was that its speaker could do nothing for his missing MNA, whereas agencies were mandated to tap people’s phones. He asked if parliament was merely a debating society, having no powers.

The politician from Balochistan province also pointed out that recently some 50 people were killed and scores of others wounded but no one resigned; not even the home secretary or deputy commissioner and Fateha for the departed souls could not be held here.

He said that Pakistan was not threatened by the enemy from outside but from within. He called for strict compliance of the Constitution and ensuring rule of law in the country.

He proposed that like the charter of democracy, now a charter should be signed by major political parties that family members of rivals, particularly their females, would not be touched.

“The greatest blessing in human life is freedom, we want the right to rule, but this right has not been given to the people down to the grassroots level. The question is why was there an attempt to expel the British from this region? For if governance meant making roads and canals, then the British were doing very well,” the veteran politician remarked.

To a question, he said the opposition parties of Sindh have joined the Tehreek. “There has been corruption in us too, money is given in the name of donations in parties. I am asking if a laborer can run a house on 700 rupees per day,” he said.

MWM head Senator Allama Raja Nasir Abbas said that Pakistan still lacks the concept of real freedom. He underlined the need for sustained efforts for rule of law and the Constitution in Pakistan.