LAHORE: Warning that the way the references were filed against superior judges was dangerous, former Senate chairman Mian Raza Rabbani says it seems to be an attempt to erode the impact of the lawyers’ movement launched during Musharraf regime.

“The way the federal government and the president forwarded references against judges of higher courts shows a dangerous trend against independence of the judiciary and it is an apparent attempt to water down the impact of the lawyers’ movement initiated over a decade ago to secure the very independence that establishes credibility of the institution of judiciary,” the PPP leader said here on Tuesday.

Talking to the media outside the residence of party leader Aslam Gill, he said judges like Qazi Faez Isa were being targeted to penalise them for their commitment to principles.

He said if, as it was being claimed, the government had acted in accordance with the Constitution then the references should be rejected for being filed without taking the cabinet into confidence as the Supreme Court had already decided that a prime minister could not act alone and joint cabinet decisions were a must for running affairs of the government.

Responding to a question, he said the PPP always stood for an independent judiciary and if a save-judiciary movement was launched in the country in the wake of presidential references, the central executive committee of the party would take a decision.

The veteran politician said the so-called Assets Recovery Unit (ASR) needed to clarify under what law it had been established and enjoying access to citizens’ accounts, income tax returns and other financial record, and through which procedure it unearthed Justice Isa’s assets.

Likewise, he said, it should also be explained that financial data of how many other people had been scrutinized to find out that their tax returns were incomplete and what action was suggested in this regard.

Mr Rabbani said the ASR needed to respond to these queries to allay the impression that Justice Isa and others were not being made target of political vendetta as the senior judge’s second communique to the president laid threadbare the government’s “mala fide” intentions against the judiciary.

The head of the parliamentary body that authored the 18th constitutional amendment, demanded amendments to the clauses 5 and 6 of the Constitution’s Article 290, making it binding that any reference to be filed by the president must be first referred to a joint sitting of the parliament.

The senior parliamentarian called for summoning the state, PTM [Pashtoon Tahaffuz Movement] and other institutions by the relevant Senate committee for a political dialogue with the party in view of the changing world scenario in which New Dlehi, Washington and Tel Aviv had become allies.

He told a questioner that the PPP had interest in the PTM because it [PPP] had learnt a lesson from the past and didn’t want to embolden the forces bent upon weakening the federation.

He said the incumbent [federal] cabinet comprised all the faces who were in the Musharraf cabinet and now implementing the former army dictator’s agenda.

Mr Rabbani regretted that the Intelligence Bureau (IB) chief of Musharraf regime, when Karachi was given a bloodbath on May 12, 2007, was now interior minister.

He said much had been stated about how the government mortgaged itself and the country to the IMF as the advisor to the prime minister on finance had been serving the IMF. Admitting that Mr Hafeez Sheikh was holding the same position in the PPP regime too, Mr Rabbani said a mistake made by a past regime must not be repeated by its successor(s).

He regretted that State Bank governor was also a serving officer of the IMF which meant the central bank had been handed over to the “world financial imperial power”. He warned that the US could use both the IMF and World Bank for its vested interests.

He said the government had shifted its economic policy and it seemed to have drifted towards the Egyptian model.

Mr Rabbani said by usurping the basic human rights, the country was being pushed towards fascism as political freedoms and freedom of expression were being restricted.

Published in Dawn, June 5th, 2019