ISLAMABAD: In the wake of recent statements by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar demanding across-the-board accountability, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Monday stressed the need for parliamentary oversight of the judiciary, and added that information about judges should be made public at the time of their appointment.

“Parliamentary oversight bodies exist all over the world,” the prime minister said, while speaking to a delegation of parliamentary reporters at the Prime Minister’s Office on Monday. “Information about a person appointed as a judge should be available to the public,” he added, while insisting that the country’s institutions would do better to work within the confines of their constitutional jurisdictions. “These days, all institutions are trying to make their own space,” he said.

The prime minister said the “faces of judges must come before the people”, because they were assigned the responsibility of deciding important cases of life and death, as well as those involving billions of rupees. “We have to bear dire consequences if a weak person is appointed as a judge,” he added, in an apparent jab at the superior judiciary.

Referring to the judicial system in the United States and other countries, the prime minister said that anyone seeking to become a judge would have to have their entire life thoroughly examined when appointed to the post.

In a separate interview, Abbasi reaffirms plan to seize control of Hafiz Saeed-run charities

About the upcoming general elections scheduled to be held towards the middle of this year, the prime minister said that polls would be held on time and there was no chance of early dissolution of assemblies.

“Under the Constitution, there are only two ways to dissolve the National Assembly — it could be done if PML-N’s president Nawaz Sharif and his party decide to do it, or if I dissolve the Assembly, or a no-confidence motion is moved by the opposition in parliament,” he said.

In reply to a query regarding a caretaker set-up which is to be formed after the present government completes its tenure of five years, Mr Abbasi said that the caretaker prime minister would be appointed on merit and according to the Constitution.

Mr Sharif will, once again, run the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) election campaign. “If somebody else is featured on the posters, the party will not be able to garner as many votes,” he said. The next budget would be planned by the PML-N, however, the government had not yet decided who would present it, Mr Abbasi said.

He rubbished rumours that the PML-N was trying to strike a deal through another National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO). “Thieves seek NROs. We have not robbed anyone. Why would we seek an NRO?” Mr Abbasi asked, adding that, “there is no danger to parliament”.

Discussing Pakistan’s ties with the US, the prime minister said there was no threat of military action by the US against Pakistan. The comment comes in the wake of growing tense relations between Pakistan and the United States following President Trump’s New Year Day’s tweet in which he accused Pakistan of taking $33 billion in aid and giving only “lies and deceit” in return while harbouring Afghan insurgents. Days later, the US suspended military aid to Pakistan.

Later, the prime minister visited the Monument of the Unsung Heroes of Democracy at the parliament and paid homage to Pakistanis who had rendered sacrifices to uphold democracy and struggled for civil liberties and rights guaranteed under the Constitution.

While visiting the monument along with Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani and National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Prime Minister Abbasi laid a wreath at the monument. The prime minister appreciated the initiative aimed at recognising the contributions and sacrifices in the struggle for democracy.

While briefing the prime minister, Senate Chairman Rabbani said the monument was a token of inspiration to all those who visited the parliament and wanted the democratic process to continue smoothly.

Mr Rabbani said that Pakistan was a democratic country and like any other county, it possessed a long history of struggle for the victory of democracy in the country.

“Political workers, including common men and women, comprised the vanguard in the battle against tyranny, oppression and injustice refusing to bow down to autocrats; the guardians and torch bearers of the notions of democracy and constitutionalism; and all those who struggled and strove in the face of torture and imprisonment,” Senator Rabbani stated.

The Senate chairman said that the landmark initiative was an iconic symbol of the struggle for democracy and was open to both foreign and domestic visitors.

Published in Dawn, January 23rd, 2018