War against corruption, terrorism laudable: Zardari

ISLAMABAD: Former president and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday said that the war against corruption and terrorism was praiseworthy but he cautioned the institutions against overstepping their limits and said that democracy demanded that all the institutions should respect the limits envisaged in the Constitution.
On the eve of the International Democracy Day, Asif Zardari said the war against extremism and corruption were commendable, but no one should cross his constitutional limits. He said interference in other institutions will be harmful for democracy.
Zardari said democracy was much more than merely holding elections periodically to distribute the political power among parties and individuals according to their electoral strength. “The rule of law, restraining oneself within the constitutional limits, transparent and across-the-board accountability and tolerance to dissent are also critical elements of democracy,” he said.
The PPP co-chairman said the enemies of democracy keep changing guise and tactics. “From direct assault on the democracy in the past we have witnessed democratic edifice assaulted by such devices as the doctrine of necessity, the so-called legal framework order and provisional constitutional orders (PCOs),” he said.
Zardari said fighting militancy and corruption were laudable aims and must be pursued with vigour. “But let not altruism be used as an excuse to overstep the constitutional limits and authority,” he said.
He said the perception of powerful institutions overstepping their constitutional limits and treading into the domain of other institutions was not a good omen for the stability of democratic structures and needs to be addressed urgently and meaningfully. “Such perceptions must not be allowed to gain strength,” he said.
The former president also cautioned against threats to democracy from the militant mindset seeking to impose their extremist agenda through force.
Congratulating the democratic forces in the world in general and in Pakistan in particular on the International Day of Democracy, Zardari expressed the hope that the celebrations would enhance the awareness of the people of Pakistan to the new forms of threats to democracy and guard against them.
He also paid glowing tributes to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto as icons of democracy and countless political leaders and workers belonging to different political parties who rendered huge sacrifices for the cause of democracy. “If dictatorship has not been able to take roots in Pakistan, it is because of the huge sacrifices of all democracy-loving people,” he said.