26th amendment tantamount to attacking constitution, judiciary, democratic freedom: Naeem

The incumbent Parliament, which came into being as a result of manipulated forms 47, has distorted the basis structure of the 1973 Constitution in the name of the 26th Amendment, said Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Pakistan Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman while addressing a press conference at the Idara Noor-e-Haq, the Karachi JI headquarters, on Monday.

Calling the current government, the Form 47 government, he said it had attacked the judiciary through an amendment in the Constitution through a questionable mechanism. He said the government had once against made controversial the mechanism for appointment of judges. The issue of seniority of judges in their appointment that had been settled a long ago had been revisited, he added.

According to Rehman, the main objection to the constitutional amendment was the mechanism through which the government had taken control over the judiciary in order to politicise it. He added that the government’s action was tantamount to striking the Constitution, judiciary and democratic freedom. The JI chief said the party had already challenged the amendment through a petition before the apex court. He demanded a full court hearing of the JI’s petition and its live streaming.

He alleged that corruption and trade of conscience was also involved in the passage of the constitutional amendment. Any change made in the constitution through forcing or luring people had no weight, he remarked. He said the JI would fight its case in the courts and would represent the aspirations of the nation in this regard.

Rehman also commented on the issue of privatisation of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), saying that initially, a handful of people bid for the national flag carrier and later all of them withdrew except for the one who had bid just Rs10 billion.

He highlighted that even in the prevailing scenario, the value of the PIA assets clocked in at Rs152 billion, and the royalties touched Rs202 billion. He said the PIA’s receivables were between Rs16 billion and Rs17 billion, whereas the number of its permanent employees stood at 7,100 and daily wagers at 2,400.

Against this backdrop, only Rs10 billion was offered for the PIA, Rehman lamented. He added that on the other side, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif had asked his daughter to run the PIA under the Punjab government and Amin Gandapur of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf had also expressed his desire to run the national flag carrier under the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government. It was nothing less than mockery of the nation, the JI chief said.

He held the Pakistan Peoples Party, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf governments responsible for the destruction of national institutions. Talking about the Pakistan Steel Mills, he said it was a profitable organization till 2008.

The nation had paid Rs2,000 billion to independent power producers (IPPs) in just a year, he said. Earlier, the K-Electric was also sold against less than the value of its poles installed across the megacity, he alleged.

Stating that almost Rs1.75 billion had recently been approved for maintaining of aeroplanes for the prime minister and the president, Rehman said the rulers were more a burden on the national exchequer compared to the state institutions.