ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Tuesday urged the nation not to prop up the “unfortunate tradition” of disqualifying politicians to pave the way for dictatorship.
“We have come through votes and will go by votes … leadership is not film stars who could be changed whenever someone wishes a change… No other way is acceptable than elections,” Gilani said in his address to a seminar titled “Quaid-e-Azam’s vision for democracy”, which was attended by academicians, intellectuals and think tanks.
Gilani quoted a paragraph from his book written in prison, saying dictators would continue misleading the “silent majority” unless it spoke up. He said, “Power of the people is ultimate … If someone is trying to take a shortcut, they should form a political party first and let the people decide.”
The prime minister denounced that even the comrades of Quaid-e-Azam were disqualified on corruption charges, making it easy for the dictator to takeover. He asked the nation not to get carried away by such tactics against political forces. He said the Pakistani nation, contrary to the vision of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, kept on welcoming the dictators compared to India that continued moving on the path to democracy.
He said Bhutto’s 1973 constitution gave a bicameral system as a guarantee to the smaller provinces to safeguard their rights. “But unfortunately the man who gave constitution to the nation was hanged,” he said. Commenting on the deadlines given by some forces, Gilani said NAB should now take notice of those who were making wrong predictions and announcing deadlines of our government.
The prime minister also mentioned the “double standard” of some and said “it is not right that first you elect people and then you say you don’t like them… What if you remove them and they get re-elected”. Gilani said he would not resist criticism from the opposition or media, saying he would choose to rather “bend than break”.
He said he could even deliver better sitting in the opposition, as the Pakistan People’s Party always fought for democracy, constitution and peoples’ rights. “If you don’t like me, bring a vote of no confidence and I will leave. But if you don’t even have a majority and even then ask to leave, then it is better to accept democracy and don’t talk of changing faces.”
He rejected the speculations of a Jasmine-like revolution in Pakistan, saying the country enjoyed democracy and revolutions came where there was no democracy. Gilani stressed for upholding Quaid-e-Azam’s vision for not letting Pakistan become a theocratic state and urged the nation to shun regionalism by adopting a more nationalistic approach. He said that it was the time to reject regional, religious and sectarian differences within and “think and act like a Pakistanis.”
Gilani referred to Quaid’s blueprint for the future constitution, in which he categorically mentioned that it would be of “a democratic type, embodying the essential principle of Islam” and “in any case Pakistan is not going to be a theocratic state to be ruled by priests with a divine mission.”
