ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira has hoped that sense will prevail as the stalemate between the executive and the judiciary will fade away.
When asked in a TV talk show that if the stalemate will persist, the minister said, “I hope it will not persist. I hope sense will prevail everywhere. I hope for the better.”
The minister rejected the notion that the system was under threat and said, “What threat the system may face. If you talk of the military coup, I must say the military has learnt a lot from the past. Their role has been positive during the whole of our tenure. They held themselves accountable to the Parliament for the first time.”
Kaira said that the government respected the courts and “we think there is no reason for a collision. We restored the Constitution in its best possible form and if more improvement is needed it can be done with consensus.”
“It is the Constitution that explains that the letter cannot be written since the President is in the office,” he said and added, “we have repeatedly stated our position on the issue of writing the letter that the President has exemption under article 248.”
President's involvement in the affairs
To another question regarding the President's running the party affairs, Kaira said that the office of the President was an elected office. If the President guide the government and consult the Prime Minister and the ministers for betterment what is bad in it, he added.
In this context he mentioned to the presence of Mian Nawaz Sharif in the official meetings of the Punjab government and questioned in what capacity he shows up at official meetings and why media do not mention to it.
He further stated that it was not a crime if the President guided the government. If any other party also desires guidance from the President, he can guide them.
Why others do not do their duty to strengthen the office of the President when the PPP government strengthened the office of the Opposition Leader and made him a watchdog of the government affairs, he added.
Government's disobedience
He dispelled the impression that the government was disobeying the courts and questioned, “tell me which decision was disobeyed.
For the first time in history a unanimously elected Prime Minister was sent home and we accepted the decision.
The Parliament's law had been struck down and we accepted and decided to go into appeal.”
Court's conduct
When asked about the conduct of the courts, the minister said that he did not want to comment on the conduct of institutions. “But, I should say nothing should be done like the decision in the Z A Bhutto case that later made the judiciary to comment with regret.”
He said if there was any discrepancy in the executive, only the executive had to mend it
Solution to the issues
Answering a question about solution to the present situation, he said the solution was also known to the courts. “We hope that there is some way out. We should hope for good. Despondency cannot lead to betterment.”
The minister categorically stated that the government was not in confrontation with the judiciary.
He said the institution should work within their ambit. At least any institution should be supreme. Who will decide as to who will enact laws and who will make the constitution, he asked.
“If I am elected by the masses and anybody does not like my face, what is wrong with me. I and the Parliament have been empowered by the people to make laws. If any law is against the rights and the Constitution, it should be referred back to the Parliament.,” he added.
The minister said the parts of the laws which are considered against the constitution can be annulled but not be struck down in totality. The Parliament should not be undermined.
He said,”the Parliament is well aware about the laws its frames. The people may comment on that for the sake of controversy but undermining the powers of the Parliament is not right. Annulling any law absolutely is disappointing for me.”