Civil society opposes unconstitutional steps against government

Though seemingly perturbed over the government policies and its performance, the civil society organisations have put their weight behind it in case of any unconstitutional step is taken in the prevailing political situation in the county.
Talking to Business Recorder different representatives of civil society organisations expressed deep concern over the current political situation and urged the people to stand united to support democracy and fully resist the elements who want to destabilise the system. They argued that this must not be taken to imply that they are satisfied with the performance of the government, but that democracy and rule of law must be protected at any cost.
Executive Director South Asia Partnership Pakistan (SAP-Pak) Mohammad Hussain told this correspondent that the people of Pakistan have made great sacrifices for the cause of democracy and they should not let any vested interests trample their right to have a democratic and elected representative system run the country. He said that military, judiciary and media should work in their respective domains. If any body is not happy with the performance of the government, they should adopt constitutional means. People's mandate should be given its due respect, he added.
Sovereignty belongs to the people who have agreed to exercise it through representatives in a federal, parliamentary and a democratic system. Any attempt at arbitrary altering this arrangement is tantamount to an attack on the sovereignty of the people, he added.
Senior Research Associate Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER) Shuaj-ud-din Qureshi said that various institutions of the state are supposed to function within their defined constitutional parameters and complement each other. We believe that any attack on the sovereignty of the people will be unjust. It will necessarily lead to conflict and must be resisted, he added.