MUZAFFARABAD, March 22: The PML-N has once again warned the Pakistan People's Party led central government about “unrest and law and order problem” in Azad Jammu and Kashmir if the alleged interference by federal ministers in the region does not stop.
“Let it be very clear that if the federal ministers do not stop meddling we will block their entry in AJK and if that leads to unrest and law and order problems its responsibility will rest on the shoulders of President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani,” said PML-N AJK chapter chief organizer Raja Farooq Haider at a press conference here.
The former AJK premier also asked the “institutions responsible for national security” to take stock of this issue.
“The election drama of 2006 staged by Gen Nadeem (Taj) and Brigadier Ghazanafar (of Military Intelligence) cannot be repeated in 2011. We have to and we will stop it,” he said, referring to the widely prevailing allegations that MI had manipulated 2006 polls in AJK, under the directions of the then military ruler Pervez Musharraf, to bring Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan and his Muslim Conference to power.
Apart from the interference of federal government functionaries, Mr Haider alleged, the AJK government was also abusing the resources of state to influence the upcoming polls.
He called upon the mainstream Pakistani media to give more space and time to AJK affairs, so that the people of Pakistan could know that in which circumstances election was being held in this sensitive region.
“All we want is that Pakistan should not blot its copybook by interfering in our election like India uses to do in occupied Kashmir,” he said.
He said the PML-N had decided that neither the Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif nor any of his cabinet members would take part in their party’s election campaign in AJK.
“Similarly, we would not like to see any federal government functionary taking part in campaign of Peoples Party in AJK. And if they came, responsibility of any untoward incident will rest on the shoulders of the federal government,” he said.
However, he added, the PPP office bearers who did not hold any official position, such as Bilawal Zardari, Jahangir Badr and Faryal Talpur, were welcome to participate or run the campaign of their candidates here.
Responding questions, he said the PML-N had full faith in the integrity and competence of chief election commissioner Khawaja Mohammad Saeed but it was a fact that the CEC was dependent on administration to conduct free and fair election.
The PML-N, he said, was preparing its suggestions and recommendations for the election commission for free and fair polls.
“Among other things, we want the commission to restrict the expenditures on electioneering to a certain limit so that not-so-rich political workers can also contest election,” he said.
Mr Haider said he did not believe in self praise but it was a fact that he had forcefully raised the issue of the rights of AJK people while being in government, “something the politicians would normally do either before coming to or after quitting power.”
“Our interim constitution needs amendments to do away with some contradictions and overlapping in it, he said, adding, he had also told the top leadership of his party that it will have to address the concerns of AJK after forming government in Pakistan.
About the date of election, he said it should be held in time and there should not be any ambiguity in this regard.
“Whatever is to be done must be done in accordance with this book so as to ensure the sanctity of process,” he said, waving a copy of the constitution.
He told a questioner that AJK was not a constitutional but de facto part of Pakistan and under the UNCIP resolutions Islamabad was responsible to ensure good governance in this region.
Ends
No comments:
Post a Comment