Former CJP ignorant of the Constitution: Pervaiz Rasheed

Avoids giving clear answers on AJK's financial and constitutional empowerment 

Federal minister for information and broadcasting Senator Pervaiz Rasheed on Sunday took strong exception to the “unconstitutional stance” of the former chief justice of Pakistan regarding the office of the prime minister.

“Regrettably the former chief justice is unfamiliar with rather ignorant of the Constitution of Pakistan… He has always been coming up with formulae in contravention of the Constitution and his latest stance falls in the same category,” the minister said at a press talk in Central Press Club Muzaffarabad.

The former CJP had opined that the upcoming budget session would be entirely unconstitutional and illegal in the absence of the PM.

He had suggested that the only remedy left to provide legal cover to the passage of budget and avoid a constitutional and financial crisis was an in-house change with the PM stepping down to pave the way for his successor in the shape of a new leader of the house.

Questioning the locus standi of the former CJP to issue “fatwas” in politics, information minister Pervaiz Rasheed said: “No one knows which political party Iftikhar Chaudhry represents, but he is talking about a prime minister who secured a two-third majority in the national and a provincial assembly.”

He said the former CJP should “come out of his dreams of replacing the parliamentary government with a presidential system”.

According to the information minister, some forces were hell-bent upon creating instability in Pakistan to weak its defence and economy, something the government would never let happen.

“Our enemies cannot digest that Pakistan’s foreign reserves have reached at $21 billion,” he said.

He said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had an agenda to construct roads for progress and prosperity in Pakistan, whereas PTI chief Imran Khan wanted to use these roads for demonstrations to create political instability in the country. 

The minister maintained that both drones and Mullah Mansour entered Pakistan without visas and this was the outcome of the policies of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf who had sold everything after the October 12, 1999 coup.

On a question about India’s alleged plans to rehabilitate Kashmiri Pandits and retired army officials in separate colonies in the held Valley, he said India had got no right to “artificially and factiously” change the demography of the disputed region.

The federal minister pointed out that people from different faiths had been living in same neighbourhoods in Jammu and Kashmir with harmony for centuries together.

That should not be disturbed, he said, warning that otherwise Pakistan would not only apprise the world of its repercussions, but also raise a strong voice against it.

However, on issues regarding AJK’s financial and constitutional empowerment, the minister avoided to give clear answers.

When he was asked if the federal government would ink an agreement with AJK on Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project (NJHP) he started tracing the history and the role of PML-N government regarding speedy execution of the mega power project. 

“We came to power in 2013 while the Neelum Jhelum project is being constructed before that under the prevailing Pakistani laws…Why NJHP was not completed in time and why this question was not raised at that time,” he said.

He then went on to say that the PML-N government had inherited NJHP as ruins which had eaten up billions of rupees and there were not even distant signs of its completion.

“It’s the special interest of our prime minister due to which the project will be commissioned by next year.”

However, when he was reminded of the basic question, he said the agreement issue would also be settled once AJK got a new government and new laws.

“Neelum-Jhelum has to remain in AJK and Allah willing it will be AJK’s property. We have never created such conflicts, neither with the provinces nor with AJK.”

When he was asked to clarify how long the PML-N led federal government would take to bring constitutional reforms in AJK if it clinched victory in the upcoming AJK polls, he termed the question as “premature.”

“I don’t know who the AJK people will vote for or which party will form government. If my party comes into power it will be binding upon her to remove the shortcomings and lacunae,” he said.

“For this I as well as my party’s government will be answerable.”

However, he reiterated, exact answer to this question would depend on the “performance and attitude” of the next government.

He did not agree with a questioner that the PML-N central leadership was imposing its decisions on party’s AJK chapter.

“We have been visiting AJK for long, and we have not come across any single complaint to this effect. This question may apply to some other party or person.” 

The federal minister was accompanied by Dr Asif Saeed Kirmani, Special Assistant to the PM, and Raja Farooq Haider, PML-N AJK president and Leader of the Opposition in AJK Assembly.

Tariq Naqash