What wrong has Zardari said, asks Kaira

LAHORE: Pakistan People’s Party Central Punjab President Qamar Zaman Kaira has asked what is wrong with what Asif Ali Zardari has said during his public address recently.

Talking to the media on Monday, he said the party co-chairman spoke the truth about the judiciary, the incumbent government and those bringing it in power. He said both the army and judiciary were respectable institutions, but parliament, which was the mother of all pillars of state, was supreme. He said the PPP could never support derailing of the democratic system.

He said whether it was a crime if the PPP leadership stressed on the supremacy of parliament, adding that it did not want any clash with the institutions. Kaira said a change could only come through accountability by people and the process was greater than the accountability done by the courts.

The PPP leader asked whether it was the role of a chief justice to review the work of powerhouses, adding that the party had seen ‘judicial activism’ in the past and was still seeing it. He said that over every matter, the court was seen taking suo motu notices, and asked what about its own pending cases. Citing the example of divisions like Gujranwala and others, he said the courts had been shut down for many days.

Kaira said the PPP believed in supremacy of parliament and stressed the need for institutions to remain in their constitutional ambit. Kaira said the PPP had never asked for any ‘NRO’-like deal from the incumbent government, adding that though the government wanted early elections, the People’s Party wanted it to complete its term.

The PPP leader said if NAB wanted to arrest any accused during investigation, it should also arrest the ministers against whom investigations were under way. He also voiced concern over the prevailing situation of the media industry. Kaira also chaired a meeting earlier regarding preparations for the death anniversary of slain party chairperson and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.