Governance to get better if system allowed to work: Khursheed

KARACHI: Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah said on Thursday if the system was allowed to work, governance would automatically get better. He said the time for martial laws and dictators were over in Pakistan.
In a brief conversation with journalists after addressing the participants of the Karachi International Book Festival, the opposition leader said that it would have been appropriate if the chief of the army staff had conveyed his reservations personally to the premier, rather than through an ISPR press release.
Shah said, “In view of the government’s statement on the ISPR statement, it appears that the civil government and military are not on the same page.”
He said that according to the Constitution, as a politician he reserved the right to criticise the government’s policies. However, a state institution did not enjoy the same right.
When asked about his opinion on Imran Khan’s recent statement that he was seeing Ayaz Sadiq’s speakership in danger, he said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief needed time to become mature. “By putting a candidate against Ayaz Sadiq for the contest of the speaker’s post, Imran’s party had already legitimised his position.”
Shah said the democratic system needed time to establish itself and it was in the interest of the country that it should be given space, as the prevailing socio-political issues today were due to the outcome of dictatorial and semi-democratic systems previously imposed in the country.
“The governance will improve once the democratic system is smoothly run and for that every institution has to improve its performance under the constitutional ambit.”