Mixing political, judicial decisions may be harmful: Kaira

LALAMUSA: If political decisions are made within judicial chambers, it may cause harm as courts are fundamentally bound by the law in principle, while in political processes, avenues for alternative and positive solutions are created. Consensus cannot be easily reached on judicial decisions, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Qamar Zaman Kaira said.

Addressing a press conference at Dera Kaira Lalamusa Tuesday, he said, “There is a lot of political heat in the country at the moment and Pakistanis are worried about the developing situation. When the court puts its hands on the necks of the government machinery and incumbents, they turn to the political leadership. The political leadership must of course follows the collective wisdom because the Prime Minister is not the government itself and the decisions are taken with the collective wisdom of the Cabinet. The Cabinet decides that Parliament should be consulted. The government is also formed by the Parliament and from there the court and other institutions are established.”

Kaira said the audio leaks that have come to light at this time are a question mark on our system. “The leaked audios contain only a fragment of the conversation; otherwise there are many plans to control the political system, to block the way of the government, to make the decisions of their own will and to bring forward the people of their own will. The audio should be investigated immediately. It is wrong to say that objections cannot be made to the procedure for making certain benches and taking certain decisions. We object to the court. If the court does not make the right decisions, we will object,” Kaira added.

He said Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was killed by a court decision and we may call the court a murderer in clear words. Despite all these things, we still respect the courts and seek justice from them and point out their wrongdoings. We request they should not be controversial. Instead of being controversial, find a solution to the conflict. If a political party’s credentials become so credible to a few judges proceeding by ignoring public opinion, then it will surely be questioned and a painful situation will arise. Even though the practice of making one’s own benches and making one’s own decisions is very old, since the time of Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry [ex-Chief Justice of Pakistan], this has become more common. Iftikhar Chaudhry used to take suo motu even in a liquor case against Atiqa Odho, but the question is what happened to the suo motu taken during his tenure? What happened to Reko Diq?

Criticizing the judiciary, he said: “The political system and people of Pakistan had to pay the price for their decisions. Pakistan lost billions of dollars. The country was fined. And then we are told not to object and keep mum on these decisions. If the decisions of this country are to be made by the courts, then the courts should handle international affairs as well. This is not the style of the world. We must make the right decisions to move forward.”

He said: “Imran Khan has confessed that he dissolved the assemblies at the behest of General Bajwa. This means that the assemblies were not dissolved by the Chief Ministers of Punjab and KPK. Justice Athar Minallah said that the reason for the dissolution of the assemblies should be seen not heard, but now Imran Khan himself is admitting in this regard, then the Chief Justice should now admit that the dissolution of the assemblies was unconstitutional. Imran Khan is demanding punishment for General Bajwa. Let him consider that if General Bajwa is liable to be punished, how can you (Imran) avoid punishment?”

Pervaiz Elahi has been saying since that day that the decision to dissolve the assemblies was wrong. Imran Khan deepened the crises of the nation and he is responsible for all crises today, Kaira said, adding that we want to bring together the conflicting political forces to pave the way for negotiations and create a way forward for the country; otherwise conflicts are never in the benefit of the countries. “Facilities are provided to the public not by a single individual but by the system. We are repeatedly explaining this to everyone. Imran Khan is still a wall in the way of negotiations. Just like all the political parties have reservations, the Peoples Party also has reservations, but we want to create a way for negotiations for the betterment of the country by accepting a great burden of sorrow.”

He said Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto also endured oppression to move Pakistan forward. “We thought of negotiations for the betterment of the country but one ‘Anokha Ladla’ is not ready to accept. In this case, we will request the court that we have respect for the court. We do not insult the courts, but we debate the court decisions. The court has to decide whether it wants to silence our tongues under the law of contempt of court. Let it be clear that this will not keep us silent. We want to move the country forward. We appeal to the court to let us rectify the situation. Our intentions are not bad at all. We know better than the judges and other institutions of this country what challenges the country is facing.”

Kaira said: “Just pointing fingers at others will not work. We must move beyond tolerance and try to fix things. Martial law never solves problems and judicial activism is also a form of martial law. Decisions of governments and countries are not made in courts, they are made in parliament and by political parties, there is no other way.”