Govt denies PM hinted at abolition of refugee seats
A senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Thursday strongly criticised Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore over his remarks on refugee seats, prompting a clarification from the government that his statement had been misconstrued.
Addressing a rally in Bagh, Mr Rathore had said that while elections were approaching and the rival party — a reference to the PML-N — had already begun distributing tickets and interviewing candidates, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) had neither formed its parliamentary board nor finalised tickets.
“The reason for this is a clause in the agreement [with the Joint Awami Action Committee] regarding the refugee seats. After consultations on this matter, we will announce our tickets,” he had said.
Interpreting the remarks as a signal towards the possible abolition of refugee seats in line with the demands of the Joint Awami Action Committee, former AJK prime minister and senior PML-N leader Raja Farooq Haider said the seats were an integral part of the AJK Constitution and could not be altered without a constitutional amendment.
“With the prime minister’s statement regarding the refugee seats, the cat is out of the bag,” Mr Haider said in a statement, urging refugee lawmakers aligned with the PPP to resign.
He said refugees were an inseparable part of the State of Jammu and Kashmir and that their representation formed the basis for describing the AJK government as the representative government of the entire state.
Mr Haider alleged that the current government was bent on undermining the ideological foundation of the state.
Referring to an earlier political remark of his own, Mr Haider said: “My previous statement that I was the last prime minister stands vindicated, as those who came after me are bent upon damaging the ideological structure of the state.”
He also alleged that the PPP government was attempting to influence the electoral process by allocating millions of rupees in development funds to prospective ticket holders and making permanent appointments on political grounds instead of through the National Testing Service (NTS) or another third-party mechanism.
He called on the Election Commission to act on an application already filed by the PML-N president, Shah Ghulam Qadir, regarding the matter and warned that a future PML-N government would annul what he termed the PPP’s “wrongful actions”.
However, reacting to social media speculation over the refugee seats issue, the prime minister’s special assistant and media affairs in-charge, Syed Azzadar Hussain Kazmi, said Mr Rathore’s remarks were being deliberately misconstrued for vested interests.
In a statement, Mr Kazmi said the prime minister held a “clear and categorical stance” that the representation of Jammu and Kashmir refugees was a sensitive constitutional issue that should be resolved through consultation and consensus among all stakeholders before the announcement of the election schedule.
“The prime minister has never spoken about the abolition of refugee seats; instead, he has emphasised finding a permanent and acceptable solution to this issue,” he said.
Mr Kazmi said attempts to create misunderstandings over political matters and spread unrest among the public would not succeed under any circumstances.
Tariq Naqash
No comments:
Post a Comment