The lawmakers in Senate on Thursday expressed fear that political situation arising in the wake of Supreme Court's verdict at a time when the Senate elections are around the corner, is an indication that a possible 'technocrat setup' is in the offing. Senator Farhatullah Babar, speaking on a point of public importance, said that although Nawaz Sharif was largely responsible for the situation created as a result of Supreme Court verdict the other day, he could not applaud the verdict as a triumph for anyone, and as a member of the Parliament he could not rejoice over it.
"The Wednesday verdict of the apex court has enlarged the scope of Articles 62 & 63 on the one hand and weakened the Parliament by striking down a law passed by it on the other," he said. He continued that it is something which he never applauded, notwithstanding the huge responsibility of Nawaz Sharif in arriving at this pass and the members of Parliament themselves challenging the law passed by them.
He said that for quite sometime a whispering campaign is going on suggesting that efforts are afoot to get the elections postponed and pave way for a government of technocrats for three to four years to eventually rewrite the political landscape of the country. He said that the apex court's verdict has the potential to increase political instability and asked the Parliament to play its role in averting instability. While abiding by the court's verdict everyone now must act in a manner to avert instability, he said.
Responding to him, Chairman Raza Rabbani said that he has also been repeatedly warning against threats to Parliament. He expressed the hope that the Parliament will overcome the challenge. Senator Ghous Bakhsh Niazi of ruling PML-N said that reports of a possible technocrat setup had been making rounds some months back "but we did not pay any heed to them."
"We heard of a technocrat setup for an unlimited period of time... and with apex court verdict, we've been sure something unconstitutional is going to happen," he warned. He said that Parliament should play its due role to defeat elements bent upon wrapping up the teething democracy, adding any attempt to derail the constitutional setup will be resisted.
In an obvious reference to the apex court, he warned if the laws enacted by the Parliament are misused, the Parliament will be left with no option but to limit the powers which had been given to different state institutions. Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (Pakistan) said that with the apex court's verdict, state institutions are in a confrontation mode with one another which is reflective in the apex court's verdict, adding it is not good for the democratic setup.
He also criticized Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar for describing lawyers as his foot soldiers, saying lawyers are the soldiers of judiciary. Asking the lawyers to stand by his side shows the Chief Justice wants confrontation with the state institutions, he added. He proposed to create a constitutional court to hear political cases, restricting the incumbent judiciary's role to deal with routine cases only, as the incumbent judges have no idea how to handle cases of political nature.
"What the Chief Justice is doing is confrontation...I'm against Nawaz Sharif. He must be hanged if he is guilty but the courts have no right to wipe him out politically," said the MQM senator. To this, Chairman Rabbani said that confrontation is no solution to the problem, and said that institutional dialogue is needed to resolve the issues confronting the country.
Senator Usman Khan Kakar of PkMAP questioned how a court can determine the appointment of a political party's head, adding all this is being done to delay the Senate polls. "It all started from Balochistan where a brigadier changed the government, and now Rs 400-500 million are being offered for the seat of one senator, which reflects what is going on. The political parties must stop these interventions in matters of the Parliament," he added.
BAGRAM JAIL
Minister of State for Finance Rana Afzal accepted that Afghanistan has informed the government about Pakistani prisoners at Bagram jail, but it is reluctant to give access to them due to which no progress has been made for their repatriation. "The Afghan government has told us about the prisoners but we are not being given any access to prisoners. Also no one here has approached us that his loved one is missing, so we could not proceed as we don't know whether or not they are Pakistanis," he added.
The chairman Senate grilled the state minister for the lame excuse for the delay in repatriating prisoners, and said: "So what if no one from the family has approached you...Isn't this the responsibility of state to find about its citizens?" Barrister Saif claimed that the Afghan government wants assurance from Pakistan as it is afraid that the prisoners may rejoin the militant groups if released.
The chair directed the Foreign Office to inform the House about the actions taken by the government for their repatriations.