LAHORE: Senior parliamentarian and PPP leader Senator Raza Rabbani has warned that any attempt to introduce a new constitution in the country may damage the federation.

“The federation may not maintain its present composition if an attempt is made to introduce a new constitution,” the chairman of the parliamentary committee on golden jubilee celebrations of the 1973 Constitution said here on Friday, addressing a presser.

“All federating units and political parties had accepted the 1973 Constitution. No one could dare to abolish it despite [two] martial laws imposed in the country since then,” he said.

Mr Rabbani said the 1973 Constitution was a guarantee to keep all federating units united, notwithstanding all issues and divergence of views.

Flanked by Chaudhry Manzoor, Rana Farooq, Hassan Murtaza and others, Mr Rabbai cautioned that the country could not afford any new ‘experiment’ and if any other path than the 1973 Constitution was adopted, the step would have a negative impact on the federation. Therefore, he said, each state institution must play its constitutional role.

He advocated holding general election across the country simultaneously, saying the situation prevailing in the country was unique as assemblies of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had been dissolved and elections to these houses had been scheduled on the basis of old census. However, elections for the assemblies of Sindh and Balochistan, as well as the National Assembly, would be held on completion of their constitutional terms in accordance with the new census results, creating an anomaly in the electoral history.

The senator said it would be better if elections to all the houses were held on the same date. The PPP, he said, would never shirk elections and take part in the exercise whenever held.

Mr Rabbani told a questioner that the PPP opposed the arrest of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan. “[But] if there are cases of corruption against someone, he should be arrested according to the law,” he hastened to add.

Answering another question, he said the judiciary should not have double standards. “The trial of the Bhutto’s assassination case could not be started for decades, while on the contrary, the ‘prime minister’ of Bani Gala is getting relief from the courts,” he regretted.

He said division in the judiciary would benefit no one and added that by strengthening the parliament, the executive and the judiciary, an active federation could be formed.

The PPP leader condemned the death of a PTI worker allegedly in a clash with police the other day and said that no political worker should meet such a destiny. However, he also held the PTI leadership responsible for the incident, saying it takes two to tango.

He lamented that Imran Khan wanted to meet everyone, except the political leadership.

PPP Central Punjab deputy information secretary Faisal Mir demanded the expulsion of former Senator Aitzaz Ahsan for violating the party discipline repeatedly.

Referring to Mr Ahsan’s statement that Imran Khan was his “red line”, Mir said the former senator’s “red line” had been changing over the past 40 years.

“Today, his “red line” is Imran Khan, earlier it had been Tehreek-i-Istaqlal before he made ex-chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry as the red line.”

He appealed to the party’s secretary general to terminate the membership of Mr Ahsan as per resolutions already approved by the two-party zones in this regard.

Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2023