Polls, not courts, are ultimate authority, says PM

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  • Abbasi lashes out at judiciary for ousting Nawaz Sharif, says people will prevail over court’s verdict
  • Calls out Senate Chairman Sanjrani to swear on oath that ‘he hasn’t ‘bought Senate chairmanship’
  • Says system needs to be rectified if politics meant electing a chairman with bought votes

 

DERA GHAZI KHAN: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Saturday criticised the judiciary for indulging in political matters, saying political decisions should be made through polling stations and not the courts.

Addressing a ceremony to mark the inauguration of the construction work of Northern Bypass and Rakhi Gajj Bewata Section 1 in Dera Ghazi Khan, the premier called for letting the voters make political decisions, as he censured the judiciary for disqualifying former prime minister Nawaz Sharif from the executive office and party presidency.

For the past few days, tensions between the executive and judiciary have heightened, especially after PM Abbasi’s ‘one-on-one’ meeting with Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar. A day after the meeting, the top judge was quoted by the media as saying that “the PM had come as a faryadi to him”. Although the apex court denied the use of the word faryadi for the PM by the CJP, the controversy took an ugly turn when Abbasi, on Friday, publically said that he went to the CJP as a faryadi, however, for the sake of the country.

Continuing with his ‘power-to-the-government’ rhetoric, the premier lamented the treatment meted out to the politicians of the country, giving the example of Nawaz Sharif, who according to him was “being pushed away from the people”.

“It is a strange tradition that whosoever solves the country’s problems is dragged into the courts, removed from posts and attempts are made to push [him] away from the people,” he said.

The PM warned that such tradition will harm to the political set up in the country as it bore no respect for the system.

A soft-spoken premier, known for his diplomatic stance, has taken a harsh tone for the past few days and his speeches echo the words and tone of Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz’s public rallies.

Disregarding the court’s disqualification of Nawaz, the PM stated that the decisions of the people always prevail over court’s verdicts — some of which, he claimed, are controversial or not accepted by history.

Reiterating that his party’s government was handicapped, he said that the government brought unprecedented prosperity to Pakistan. “We continued to work despite severe opposition and gave respect to your vote,” PM Abbasi said.

Addressing the audience, Abbasi said like Zardari-led Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), the PML-N will not come to power again if voters are not satisfied with its performance and that’s how diplomatic systems work, underperforming people are sent packing.

“I have complete faith that the enlightened people of Pakistan will respond to the conspiracies and overthrow of governments at the polling stations [in 2018 General Elections].”

SENATE CHAIRMAN NEEDS TO GO:

In a clear criticism of the recently elected Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, the PM stated that if the politics of the current times meant electing a chairman with bought votes, then the system needs to be corrected.

“Should our senators be those who buy votes of other people? Should the chairman be a person who bought votes? This is the quality of politics nowadays. This is the wrong we have to correct with the power of votes,” he asserted.

The PM called out Sanjrani for buying votes, saying “You should take an oath of honesty and issue a statement saying that you haven’t bought the top slot.”

“I was advised by people not to intervene in Senate election, but I will keep interfering if something wrong is going on,” the PM added.

INAUGURATION CEREMONY:

Earlier, the premier laid down the foundation stones of two important projects in Dera Ghazi Khan.

The 18-kilometre Northern Bypass will divert the heavy traffic currently passing through the heart of the city. It will help in reducing the travel time and accidents.

About 2.5 million people will benefit from the project with an average daily traffic count of around 5,000 vehicles. The bypass will be constructed in 18 months.

Moreover, the Rakhi Gajj-Bewata section is extremely important as it connects Punjab with Balochistan as the shortest route.

The entire commercial traffic from Balochistan travels through N-70 to reach various destinations in Punjab. The widening and improvement of this road will help in quick movement of people and agriculture products between the two provinces.

The prime minister also announced to rename the DG Khan airport after former president Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari.

 

3 COMMENTS

  1. An illitrate man can’t tell a far more educated and Agroomed man such stupid things . Abbassi is corrupt to the core and is looking to his future which is bleak.

  2. In another program a highly foolish person who says he is a wakeel, is making fool of himself. He name is Arbab Usman but he does not have the dignity of an Arbab.

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