RAWALPINDI: Awami Muslim League chief and former federal interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has said the caretaker setup choice will make it clear whether general elections will be transparent or not.
In his statement on the social networking site Twitter on Tuesday, he said the announcement of the caretaker government and prime minister was crucial.
Rashid said Dar’s wish to be the caretaker prime minister could become a news, but it could make the entire election questionable and a disgrace.
“If Dar is caretaker prime minister, how free and fair elections are possible,” he questioned. “It will be a mockery of the Constitution and the law. Elections under such a setup will be a disgrace to democracy,” he added.
He said those who enacted and amended laws to finish their [corruption] cases after a hectic struggle of almost 15 months needed a powerful caretaker prime minister so that their cases might not be reopened as the Supreme Court has yet to decide the NAB case.
The households who have received electricity bills are in a state of mourning, and the gas bill under raised tariff is yet to come, he continued.
The former federal minister said democracy would fall in the pit they were digging for others. “They blatantly disregard the Constitution; they are exposed as disobeying the constitution is tantamount to rebellion. There is no adherence to the constitution, nor to the law, nor is there a solution to the problems of the poor,” he said.
The Constitution is held in abeyance. They have made this country a land without a constitution; this is the story of 15-month rule of the [PDM] government, he stated.
The ex-minister said the caretaker government could neither transfer nor post [any official] nor make any important decision. It could only make arrangements for the elections. Flour, sugar, gas, electricity had been made dearer but bureaucrats were being given 200 new vehicles as a bribe, he blasted.
The present era, he said, would be etched in the history of Pakistan politics as the darkest. –Agencies
