LAHORE – Information Minister Firdous Ashig Awan told reporters at Allama Iqbal International Airport on Friday that the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) would play a positive role as an opposition party in the Punjab Assembly and will point out any wrong steps by the Punjab government, but it would not do anything to harm democracy.
Criticising turncoat politics, which she called “lotacracy”, the minister said that real democracy was restored to the country after a long struggle, so every political party should promote a positive attitude by discouraging horse-trading. She said the people of Punjab would reject political parties that indulged in turncoat politics.
She said that every institution should work under the constitution and any move by one institution to interfere in the matters of others would be harmful for the country. She said the strike call by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) in Sindh against the removal of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Justice (r) Deedar Hussain Shah was not party policy, and that everyone had the right to express their sentiments regarding the Supreme Court verdict.
The law minister was reviewing the Supreme Court’s verdict and the matter would be decided as per law, she said. Political matters should be discussed and decided in parliament, not in courts, she added. Opposing politics of confrontation, she said all political parties should work to strengthen democratic institutions because criticism for the sake of criticism was a threat to democracy. She said the matter of the Wage Board Award was in court and the government would implement the court’s decision.
Later, she visited Environment and Women’s Development Minister Samina Khalid Ghurki at her residence and offered condolences at the death of her husband Khalid Javaid Ghurki.
