LAHORE: Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan says it is the responsibility of the top political leadership to see if there is any shortcoming in the 26th constitutional amendment.

Talking to the media at the press club here on Wednesday, he termed the 26th amendment the first step in the right direction, adding that more steps will have to be taken in this “journey”.

He said if the 26th amendment lacked anything, it should be taken care of by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto and Maulana Fazlur Rehman “to restore the original structure of the Constitution”.

Urging the MPs to reclaim their due space, he said a spineless parliament would be pushed to the wall.

“The MPs must understand that if they leave their space, others will come to fill this vacuum. When the elected representatives lessened the utility of the Public Accounts Committee, agencies like the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) came into being.”

Stressing that the people’s right to rule would have to be restored, he said the parliament has stepped up its journey towards this direction through the 26th amendment.

About the alleged role of the judiciary in the ongoing political instability, he lamented that two democratic governments were sent packing through the use of the Constitution’s Clause 184(3) by the judiciary.

He said on one hand the Supreme Court judges authorised a dictator to amend the Constitution and on the other they ousted the elected governments through suo motu cases heard under the Clause 184(3).

He said how a balance in the judiciary and delivery of justice could be ensured when judges would appoint judges.

The judiciary was meant to bar the parliament from going against the Constitution, but here the judiciary itself has begun re-writing the Constitution, he regretted.

Responding to a query, he said that society could not be built through the use of swords, rather dialogue would have to be initiated for the purpose as the economy could not progress in the absence of political stability.

He told a questioner that dialogue could not be held with a political party whose manifesto was “based on chaos”.

He regretted that the government could not ensure its writ without prosecuting the accused persons in the cases related to May 9 episode.

“What kind of peaceful protest was it that Askari Bank branches and 29 cantonments were set ablaze. My son and daughter cannot step out of their home for fear of the anarchists. Can one call the proponents of such anarchy a political party?”

He warned the PTI if it caused anarchy, it would have to pay the price as the state would have to establish its writ.

Published in Dawn, October 31st, 2024