ISLAMABAD: Senators on Wednesday asked institutions to work within their domains, as defined by the constitution, and called for sustained democracy in the country.

Taking part in a discussion on the president’s address to the joint sitting of the parliament on June 10, Farhatullah Babar asked the parliament to give serious thought to Asif Ali Zardari’s advice that state institutions should remain within the limits prescribed for them and that the principles of accountability and transparency should be applied uniformly.

The president’s spokesman said it appeared that some honourable judges were encroaching upon the domain of other state institutions on the one hand and the principles of accountability were not being applied uniformly on the other.

Senator Babar said the recent verdict on the schedule for presidential elections, its direction to the government to get passed from the parliament a new law on Federal Service Tribunal in accordance with its directions and an earlier verdict expressing serious desire that the CJP be consulted in the appointment of chairman of NAB appeared to be examples of state institutions not remaining within their constitutional limits.

Likewise, the court’s refusal to present its accounts before the Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly, its refusal to provide information about the number of suo motu cases and the dual nationality-holder judges were also not the best examples of uniform application of law. He said concerns over such issues had also been raised by the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ).

After visiting Pakistan in September 2011, the ICJ delegation said the Supreme Court was exceeding the limits of a reasonable use of the suo motu procedure leading to a corrosion of the rule of law and a blurring of the constitutional separation of powers.

He said that in reply to the question about the suo motu cases three high courts did not furnish any reply while one high court stated that seeking such information amounted to having a check on the judiciary which militated against its independence.

There was a need for balance, he said. Justice might be blind but the judges must keep balance as ordained also in the holy Quran.

He asked the parliament to dive deep into the issue of the institutional imbalance. Wondering if it was rooted in the imbalance in the treatment of PCO judges of 1999 and 2007 by the parliament itself, he called for a re-examination of giving flower bouquets to the former on the one hand and humiliating and embarrassing the latter group of judges, on the other.

Mr Babar also showered praise on the president “for the successes achieved during the past five years”. He said that President Zardari would be remembered for transferring his powers to the parliament, for raising the bar of tolerance towards dissent to great heights and for reconciliation and accommodation.

The people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would always remember how he gave them their identity even before it was formalised in the 18th Constitutional Amendment.

Mr Zardari would also be remembered as a forgiving person who did not seek personal revenge. After taking oath he decided to retain the personal and security staff of former president retired General Pervez Musharraf. He also did not permit humiliation of Justice Dogar and ensured that he remained chief justice till his superannuation even while the deposed judges had been restored a week earlier. President Zardari also hosted farewell dinner in Dogar’s honour despite some counselling against it, he said. President Zardari honoured everyone and in return was being honoured as he leaves the Presidency.

He said that Mr Zardari was ridiculed as an ‘accidental’ president and it appeared that everyone opposed him. Yet against all opposition he not only entered the country’s highest office as elected head of state but also completed his term and was now exiting with honour and dignity.

The president who was ridiculed as ‘accidental’ actually turned out to be the unprecedented president of the country in many ways, he said.

Senator Karim Khawaja of PPP also criticised the role of judiciary and stressed the need for strengthening the parliament. He said recently the parliament had sought a reply from the Supreme Court seeking details of suo motu cases. He said the response was that the court was not answerable to parliament.

He said the parliament could be strengthened only through following policy of reconciliation. He said the PPP government faced many problems on account of some decisions of the courts and warned the PML-N government that it would also face similar problems.

He said democracy must continue and stressed that the mistakes committed by political leaders lead to extra constitutional interventions.

Mudassar Sehar Kamran praised outgoing President Zardari for amicably promoting policy of reconciliation.

Afrasiab Khattak of the ANP and Rafiq Rajwana of the PML-N also took part in the discussion. The house will meet again today (Thursday) at 10am.