LAHORE: The federal government has nothing to do with Article 295-C of the constitution but parliament has the authority to take any decision on the law, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Secretary General Senator Jahangir Badar said on Saturday.
He made these remarks in a press conference at the Lahore Press Club. Badar said that the PPP respected the decisions of parliamentary standing committees and always honoured them but Article 295-C’s fate would be decided in the parliament.
The former federal minister said that the PPP was seriously reviewing the issue of Article 295-C and blasphemy accused Aasia Bibi’s case but the party had strong belief in parliament’s supremacy. The PPP secretary general said that the federal government had not yet decided to amend the law.
Responding to a question regarding Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer’s visit to Sheikhupura Jail for meeting Aasia, Badar said that he had no idea why the governor and his wife met the accused in jail. “I will not comment on this,” he said.
The senator told journalists that although Taseer belonged to the PPP but held no official position in the party due to which the governor was not answerable for his acts and if anyone wanted a clear answer, he should ask Taseer himself.
The PPP secretary general said that no one was a leader in the party and people including the PM, CMs, ministers and governors were workers and no one was above the party rules. Commenting on party leaders Naheed Khan and Safdar Abbasi’s decision to hold an independent ceremony on the PPP’s Foundation Day,
Badar said that such actions from any group had no worth, as some people had tried to carry out such activities in the past but had failed. He said that the function to be organised by Naheed and Abbasi would expose the real causes of the gathering and if anyone had problems with the party leadership, they should raise the issue in the central executive committee (CEC).
