Supremacy of Constitution only way forward: Shahid Khaqan

KARACHI: Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has said that the country cannot progress if the government continues passing constitutional amendments and laws aimed at “suppressing the people”.

The present state of affairs would be resolved only if the rule of law and supremacy of the Constitution were guaranteed, he said while speaking as a chief guest here at the inauguration of the provincial office of the Awam Pakistan party that he founded along with former federal finance minister Miftah Ismail.

Abbasi said the present rulers were least concerned about problems as their main concern was perpetuating their rule in the country. He opined that the system of justice in the country had been ruined following the passage of the 26th Constitutional Amendment. “Today, neither the media, nor politics, nor the judiciary, nor the people of Pakistan are free. This is the sorry state of our country after 77 years. Those in power are indifferent to this situation,” said the former PM.

The former PM said the present rulers should have tried resolving these issues, had they been worried about the people of Pakistan. He opined that the system of justice had been ruined following the passage of the 26th Constitutional Amendment.

He said Pakistan could not progress if the government kept on passing “anti-state” constitutional amendments and laws aimed at “suppressing the people”.

He said that the judicial system in the country had been ruined as courts could not dispense justice to the people.

The Awam Pakistan leader said that economic progress was impossible without the rule of law and ensuring justice for the people. He said the “present rulers were not elected by the people of Pakistan”.

He said that all these governance-related issues should be resolved through political means, otherwise they would be resolved on the streets. “Pakistan couldn’t afford such a mayhem,” said the former PM.

The former PM said the industries could not generate jobs for the youth because the government failed to provide gas and electricity at cheaper rates for their proper functioning. He said the state had failed to secure the lives of the people, ensure justice, and properly run the economy.

Abbasi lamented that about one-third of the population in Karachi does not get water supply despite that the Pakistan Peoples Party has been ruling in Sindh for the past 17 years. Around 15 million children are out of schools in Punjab, while there is chaos in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said the present rulers are least concerned about these problems as their main concern is perpetuating their rule.

He assured the audience at the inauguration ceremony that the Awam Pakistan party would strive hard to resolve these genuine issues of the people.

Dr Miftah Ismail said that Awam Pakistan would make efforts to ensure the best educational, health, and employment opportunities for the people and empower local government and policing systems in the four provinces. He said that Pakistani people cannot live honourably due to the faulty governance system.