ISLAMABAD ? Pakistan People?s Party on Thursday confronted Supreme Court openly by challenging the apex court?s decision of forming a commission to investigate Memogate scandal, saying the court has crossed its institutional limits through the move they perceived as part of efforts to end its rule.
At a hurriedly-called press conference, former law minister and PPP central leader Babar Awan also fired political shots at the PML-N and its chief Nawaz Sharif for moving the memo petition in the SC, and vowed that government would not surrender the supremacy of the parliament and the authority of the executive. Flanked by Religious Affairs Minister Khurshid Shah, Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan and PPP Information Secretary Qamar Zaman Kaira, Babar declared: ?We will not allow the supremacy of the parliament to be wiped out.?
Ruling out the possibility of any caretaker setup, Babar said that the authority of the parliament had been undermined by constituting the commission as Parliamentary Committee on National Security, a panel having representation of all the political parties in both the houses of the parliament, was already investigating the memo issue. He also said that the integrity of the committee chairman Raza Rabbani was also above board and there was no question on it.
He categorically said that the only one limb of the state, the executive, had the authority to constitute any commission while the apex court ignoring the fact constituted the commission without hearing the federation. Implicitly condemning the apex court decision, he stressed that no body could be given the authority to govern Pakistan other than those who have been given mandate by the people and no one should have the wishful thinking that current democratic setup could be rolled through threats.
He also criticised courts for issuing stay orders in the favour of PML-N leadership and providing them relief. ?The biggest parliamentary party of the federation remained a victim in the past and today as well,? he further said. ?It is the history of Pakistan that PPP never got justice from the courts and it is also a history that the rulers of Punjab were never denied to provide a relief by these courts,? he said adding that the founder of the party, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto could neither get justice not lawyers to plead his case.
It has become clear ?today? as to who wanted disintegration of the country. ?Today a decision was announced without hearing the point of view of the federation,? Awan said. He alleged that PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif by calling President (Zardari) a traitor had tried to play the same game that led to (the creation of) Bangladesh. Nawaz Sharif has attacked the democracy through getting the cover of the other state institutions. ?Mian Nawaz Sharif has played the ?act one? of Bangladesh Model,? he said.
He also blamed Nawaz for committing contempt of court when he had attacked SC during his second tenure as prime minister. ?Nawaz Sharif called an elected President of Pakistan (Asif Ali Zardari) a traitor but never passed such remarks against a dictator, former president Pervez Musharraf,? he remarked. He said Nawaz never moved petition against the October 12, 1999 step of a military dictator to get him declared a traitor. Babar also held Nawaz Sharif responsible for creating an atmosphere of confrontation between the state institutions.
About Husain Haqqani, former ambassador of Pakistan to US, he said that it was the decision of the government that he would not leave the country until the completion of investigations of the memogate scandal.
Babar also questioned integrity of Tariq Khosa, the head of the commission on memo issue, saying that one of his brothers, Nasir Khosa, was Punjab chief secretary and very close to PML-N Punjab government and an other of his brothers, Asif Saeed Khan Khosa, was judge of the Supreme Court. He said that Tariq Khosa was a biased person as the government did not gave him his desired posting before his retirement and that bias had penetrated into Khosa family.
Responding to a question that whether PPP would admit the court?s decision over the constitution of commission, Dr Awan gave a vague answer, saying that PPP respected the court orders and would face the situation while remaining within the existing system.
Khurshid Shah during the press conference said that PPP government had given the identity to the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Gilgit Baltistan and now it will take the same step for the Saraiki people. He said that when some one is disappointed with democracy, he resorts to such steps as taken by the PML-N. He said those who don?t run away and stay in the country and fight for the democracy can?t be intimidated by use of Article 6.
Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan accused that all the protocol department of SC received the PML-N leadership at the Constitution Avenue and he was given VIP protocol in the apex court, setting aside the security protocol.
On the other hand, President and PPP co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday held intense consultations with the senior party colleagues on the situation emerged in the wake of Supreme Court decision on memogate controversy.
Sources privy to these talks told The Nation that President Zardari at his meetings with party colleagues said that he being ?a spiritual son of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto? knew how to confront all kind of challenges with courage and he will do it.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani was the first person who held one-on-one meeting with the president. Both the leaders discussed the strategy to address the emerging challenges and decided to address the memogate issue through the parliament, for its being the supreme institution.
According to the sources, president asked the prime minister to follow the constitutional course and take the Parliamentary Committee on National Security on board. It was therefore decided that the PM would brief the parliamentary body, which is scheduled to meet today (Friday). The sources further said that the two leaders emphasised that all the institutions should work in unison and in line with their domain laid down in the constitution.
This meeting was followed series of separate meetings of President Zardari with other party leaders, including Senator Babar Awan and Federal Minister Khursheed Shah.
Agencies add: sources said that during closed-door meetings with party ministers and prominent leaders held at Aiwan-e-Sadr, several party leaders had asked the president to take the Kargil war case to the Supreme Court to expose former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. But they said Zardari rejected the suggestion and said that being a political party with mass following, the PPP would confront the PML-N and its leaders in the political field and defeat them. The PPP leaders during the meetings strongly criticised Nawaz Sharif for taking the Memogate issue to the SC and described it as a conspiracy against the government and President Zardari.
Presidential Spokesperson Farhatullah Babar reported the president as saying that he wanted to tell the nation and party workers that Shaheed Benazir Bhutto had full trust in him, and he asked the people to have faith in the trust reposed by BB in him.
Other leaders who called on President Zardari separately included Islamuddin Shaikh; MNAs Ms Asma Arbab Alamgir, Muhammad Tariq Khattak, Miss Palwasha Khan, Dr Mahreen Razaque Bhutto and Begum Nasim Akhtar Chaudhry; and Senator Abbas Khan Afridi.
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