ahlam1399
03-07-2018, 12:25 PM
ISLAMABAD: PPP Senator Farhatullah Babar on Tuesday warned against what he called judicialisation of politics and politicisation of the judiciary and lamented the state within state and utter helplessness of parliament to arrest the downslide. In his farewell speech in the Senate, Babar cautioned that, ?If this remained the attitude of the judiciary, the 2018 election may be a referendum against it.?
Babar said he was also pained to see two states ? one de facto and the other de jure ? often working at cross purposes. Babar said the de facto calls the shots but refuses to submit to accountability.
The PPP legislator continued that parliament had failed to bring legislation for accountability of all, including judges and generals. He said parliament, including his own party, slipped at a time when the de facto rulers could have been made accountable.
About the delay in devolution of power by the Centre to the provinces, he said any attempt to roll back the 18th Amendment and provincial autonomy would be disastrous for the country. ?The smaller provinces may demand parity in the National Assembly, as we had also demanded parity with East Pakistan before it broke up?what we need to do is to protect Pakistan and it?s the job of parliament,? he argued.
Babar said he would be a stranger to the Senate and unable to speak here, but his voice would not be stilled and fight for the cause would not be abandoned.
Senator Babar said he could not applaud the chief justice of Pakistan swearing that he had no political agenda or the judges quoting from poetry instead of the Constitution and the law.
?When my village elder Baba Rehmate tells me that the Constitution is supreme, I accept it. But when he goes on to also tell me that Constitution is what he says and not what is written in it, then I am appalled,? he lamented.
Babar contended, ?When dignity of courts is upheld by brandishing the contempt lawrather than by the force of arguments it is time to ponder, he said, adding, ?It will be a disaster if the election year was allowed to become the year of referendum on the judiciary?.
?I was distressed that all political parties including my own, demanding accountability of all, suddenly backtracked on it?We must resolve this contradiction of a state within state if Pakistan is not to be devoured by it,? he maintained.
Chairman Senate Mian Raza Rabbani lauded Babar?s services and contribution, saying his period in the upper house will be a role model for others. ?Your role will be long remembered and the Senate will be less wise without your presence,? he said.
Senator Osman Saifullah Khan rose to deliver his farewell speech and said, ?Sir I want my last few words in Parliament to be about what I see as the weakening of two political institutions - political parties and Parliament itself. The tragedy is that we, the politicians ourselves, are contributing to the erosion of these pillars of democracy?.
He also emphasised that they were members of political parties but the first thing they must remember was that they were political opponents and not enemies. ?We should not weaken democracy by the invective and slander that all too often pass for political oratory these days. We are all beneficiaries of political parties. I am a senator because of the Pakistan People?s Party. But to strengthen our political parties, we need more democratic and participative decision-making within them. We must raise our voice in the party discussions and voice our opinions. We must not be rubber-stamps and must have the moral courage to dissent with the party leadership when we feel strongly about something. By being silent we do no service to the party. Finding a balance between our obligation to our party, our responsibility to our electors and the call of our conscience is something all of us must struggle for?.
Senator Osman conceded that it was deeply distressing to see the weakening of Parliament over these last six years. ?Supremacy of Parliament does not mean supremacy of parliamentarians. It means supremacy of the people. It means the decisions impacting the lives of people should be taken by those whom the people can hold to account, who operate in the public gaze and under public scrutiny,? he noted.
He regretted that there was still a debate in Parliament on trichotomy of state institutions, but it is not the usual trichotomy ? the Pakistani trichotomy refers to the civilian versus the military versus the judiciary.
Another outgoing Senator Mohsin Leghari, an independent from Punjab, said there was a need to look inward instead of blaming the military and the judiciary. Citing a survey conducted by The Pew Research Center, a non-partisan American think tank based in Washington, he said 93 percent people in the country had a positive thinking about the Pakistan Army, while there could be hardly a few percent sees politicians with a positive approach.
Just few hours after the speech of Senator Farhatullah Babar, his own party disowned his speech while keeping a distance from it declaring it as his personal views.The PPP issued a statement of party's senior leader and former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf as head who declared the views of Senator Babar as 'personal views'.Raja Pervez Ashraf termed the statement of Farhatullah Babar on the floor of House in Senate as his personal views and opinion. He said that whatever Senator Babar stated in the Senate in his Tuesday's speech doesn't reflect the position and policy of the PPP hence may be taken as his individual views having nothing to do with the party.
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Babar said he was also pained to see two states ? one de facto and the other de jure ? often working at cross purposes. Babar said the de facto calls the shots but refuses to submit to accountability.
The PPP legislator continued that parliament had failed to bring legislation for accountability of all, including judges and generals. He said parliament, including his own party, slipped at a time when the de facto rulers could have been made accountable.
About the delay in devolution of power by the Centre to the provinces, he said any attempt to roll back the 18th Amendment and provincial autonomy would be disastrous for the country. ?The smaller provinces may demand parity in the National Assembly, as we had also demanded parity with East Pakistan before it broke up?what we need to do is to protect Pakistan and it?s the job of parliament,? he argued.
Babar said he would be a stranger to the Senate and unable to speak here, but his voice would not be stilled and fight for the cause would not be abandoned.
Senator Babar said he could not applaud the chief justice of Pakistan swearing that he had no political agenda or the judges quoting from poetry instead of the Constitution and the law.
?When my village elder Baba Rehmate tells me that the Constitution is supreme, I accept it. But when he goes on to also tell me that Constitution is what he says and not what is written in it, then I am appalled,? he lamented.
Babar contended, ?When dignity of courts is upheld by brandishing the contempt lawrather than by the force of arguments it is time to ponder, he said, adding, ?It will be a disaster if the election year was allowed to become the year of referendum on the judiciary?.
?I was distressed that all political parties including my own, demanding accountability of all, suddenly backtracked on it?We must resolve this contradiction of a state within state if Pakistan is not to be devoured by it,? he maintained.
Chairman Senate Mian Raza Rabbani lauded Babar?s services and contribution, saying his period in the upper house will be a role model for others. ?Your role will be long remembered and the Senate will be less wise without your presence,? he said.
Senator Osman Saifullah Khan rose to deliver his farewell speech and said, ?Sir I want my last few words in Parliament to be about what I see as the weakening of two political institutions - political parties and Parliament itself. The tragedy is that we, the politicians ourselves, are contributing to the erosion of these pillars of democracy?.
He also emphasised that they were members of political parties but the first thing they must remember was that they were political opponents and not enemies. ?We should not weaken democracy by the invective and slander that all too often pass for political oratory these days. We are all beneficiaries of political parties. I am a senator because of the Pakistan People?s Party. But to strengthen our political parties, we need more democratic and participative decision-making within them. We must raise our voice in the party discussions and voice our opinions. We must not be rubber-stamps and must have the moral courage to dissent with the party leadership when we feel strongly about something. By being silent we do no service to the party. Finding a balance between our obligation to our party, our responsibility to our electors and the call of our conscience is something all of us must struggle for?.
Senator Osman conceded that it was deeply distressing to see the weakening of Parliament over these last six years. ?Supremacy of Parliament does not mean supremacy of parliamentarians. It means supremacy of the people. It means the decisions impacting the lives of people should be taken by those whom the people can hold to account, who operate in the public gaze and under public scrutiny,? he noted.
He regretted that there was still a debate in Parliament on trichotomy of state institutions, but it is not the usual trichotomy ? the Pakistani trichotomy refers to the civilian versus the military versus the judiciary.
Another outgoing Senator Mohsin Leghari, an independent from Punjab, said there was a need to look inward instead of blaming the military and the judiciary. Citing a survey conducted by The Pew Research Center, a non-partisan American think tank based in Washington, he said 93 percent people in the country had a positive thinking about the Pakistan Army, while there could be hardly a few percent sees politicians with a positive approach.
Just few hours after the speech of Senator Farhatullah Babar, his own party disowned his speech while keeping a distance from it declaring it as his personal views.The PPP issued a statement of party's senior leader and former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf as head who declared the views of Senator Babar as 'personal views'.Raja Pervez Ashraf termed the statement of Farhatullah Babar on the floor of House in Senate as his personal views and opinion. He said that whatever Senator Babar stated in the Senate in his Tuesday's speech doesn't reflect the position and policy of the PPP hence may be taken as his individual views having nothing to do with the party.
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