KARACHI: Though unlike Israel people in Pakistan have not yet taken to streets but nevertheless the country direly needs drastic judicial reforms, said Pasban Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman Altaf Shakoor here on Sunday.
He said that there are many factors behind the ongoing political crisis: one of them is undue interference of some constitutional institutions into the sphere of such other institutions.
He said there should be a proper balance of power amongst different constitutional institutions so that the unwanted leg pulling should be avoided. He said the judicial system must work without political favoritism. He said though judicial activism in some cases is welcome but undue judicial activism in purely parliamentary matters is not a good omen for the nation and country.
He said let the parliament deals with its issues and judiciary to focus on its fastly piling up cases. He said corruption in lower judiciary is still a daunting task but no visible efforts are being taken in this regard. He said the politicians should also stop dragging the judiciary into their petty fights and instead use the forum of parliament to settle their political score. He said it is often alleged that our courts in past had sanctioned military interventions and constitutional amendments that have fundamentally altered the legal and political system and undermined judicial independence. He said it is high time that we should go for the uphold of law and constitution instead of taking sides with rivals political elements.
Altaf Shakoor said that recent developments in the country have worsened the political crisis and all the constitutional institutions should play their role in lowering the flaring political temperature. He said our weak economy can’t afford further political crises. He said the country is at the brink of an economic collapse and all the constitutional institutions should consider this crucial fact and avoid making the matters worse, in the best interest of the country and nation.
He said the people have already been burdened with the highest food inflation in the region. He said the weakened rupee is increasing our foreign debt by leaps and bounds but the state institutions sadly seem least concerned. He said every Pakistani citizen is enslaved in this debt trap. He asked why our constitutional institutions are silent over this debt trap; why parliament is not discussing the deadly debt trap and why the superior judiciary is not taking any suo moto on this very serious matter, directly related to the survival of this nation. He asked was Pakistan created for making it a colony of IMF. Was this country created to be run on foreign loans and dole outs?
Altaf Shakoor earnestly appealed to all constitutional institutions including the apex judiciary to consider the precarious economic situation of the country and play their individual and collective role to mitigate the sufferings of the poor masses, who are the real stakeholders of this hapless country. He hoped that parliament would also play its leading role by making prudent laws to ensure proper balance of power between the constitutional institutions before the people of Pakistan take to streets like the people of Israel.
