HYDERABAD: Former finance minister and Awam Pakistan Party’s Secretary-General Miftah Ismail has said that given the history of the country’s prime ministers, the current government is unlikely to complete its constitutional term.
Ismail said that no prime minister had ever completed their term in Pakistan and the federal government would also fail to stay in office for long because “it has not delivered”.
The former finance czar made the remarks in Hyderabad on Sunday during a press conference of his party, which he formed with ex-prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi after the two fell out with the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) earlier this year.
Miftah said Abbasi told PML-N what was being done “is not our politics”.
“Is this the politics of honouring the vote? The PML-N left its manifesto. This political crisis would not have taken place had Nawaz Sharif accepted defeat on February 9,” he said while referring to the February 8 general elections.
The politician said that many people from the “PML-N are joining the Awam Pakistan Party”.
Turning his guns towards the PML-N’s ally Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), he said that the party had been ruling Sindh since 2008. “They take votes but do nothing in the province.”
He said there was a problem with electricity, gas, drainage and infrastructure in Hyderabad, and except for Karachi, “there is no maintained family park in the entire of Sindh”.
“Awam Pakistan is determined to end the rights abuses in Hyderabad. If you look at the past, Pakistan was at the forefront in terms of economy in Asia but became the poorest in 30 years,” he added.
The politician further said the way the 26th amendment was passed in the dark of night, it should not have happened because an “independent and fair judiciary is the guarantor of the protection of the rights of all”.
He added that the politicians and rulers need to think. “The Constitution is a social contract, how can it be changed in the dark of night.”
They, he went on to say, did not give the bat sign to Imran Khan’s party, which means they acted with bias and not justice. “We want judges who make decisions according to the Constitution, not by choice.” In response to a question, Ismail said that the Pak Sarzameen Party and the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party were formed for a specific purpose. “The Awam Pakistan does not claim that it will win elections, but if it does win, it promises to deliver,” he said, adding that “Imran Khan is no longer a favourite”. –Agencies
