This is in reply to the letter of
WG.CDR. (R) AHMED S. JAN (DAWN, 20th May). I completely disagree with his notion that Zardari is abiding with the Bhurban Deceleration and Nawaz Sharif is not. I would request him to read the text of the accord once again:
1 - Allied parties, the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Pakistan Muslim League (N) resolve to form a coalition government for giving a practical shape to the mandate, which was given to the democratic forces by the people of Pakistan on February 18, 2008.
2 - This has been decided in today’s summit between the PPP and the PML (N) that the deposed judges would be restored, on the position as they were on November 2, 2007, within 30 days of the formation of the federal government through a parliamentary resolution.
3 - The parties agreed that all allied parties would fully support the candidate for the position of the prime minister, nominated by the PPP. The PML (N) suggested that the candidate for prime minister should be such person who can take ahead the common agenda of the allied parties.
4 - The parties agreed that the speaker and the deputy speaker of the national assembly would be from the PPP while the speaker and the deputy speaker of the Punjab assembly would be from the PML (N).
5 - Both the parties agreed that the PML (N) would be a part of the federal government while the PPP would be a part of the Punjab government.
6 - This is the solid opinion of the leaderships of both the parties that the allied parties are ready for forming the governments and the sessions of the national and provincial assemblies be summoned immediately.
Several clips can be shown to prove the stance of PPP on the judges’ issue before the election. For your information, a few WEEKS back in the show Live with Talat, Talat Hussain showed numerous clips of Farzana Raja, Jahangir Badar and Raja Pervaiz where they vouched to re instate the judges because they considered the NOV. 3 act illegal. It’s a shame that these leaders are applying the use of spin doctrine to change their stance. While, the sacrifice Nawaz Sharif made for the restoration of judges was by agreeing to sit in the Cabinet whose members have to take oath from the President he deems to be unconstitutional rightfully.
Following are the three excerpt from the Dawn News website
http://www.dawn.com/2008/04/13/top4.htm.
1 -‘The latest version of the Constitution, a preface of which has been written by law secretary Justice Bin Yamin, contains new articles — 270-AAA, 270-B and 270-C — providing indemnity to the acts of the president, including the sacking of about 60 judges of superior courts upon proclamation of emergency on Nov 3.’
2 - ‘When asked about his position on the amendments, Mr Naek said the constitution could only be amended as per requirement under articles 238 and 239. He said the amendments inserted in the constitution after proclamation of emergency on Nov 3, 2007, had not been validated by the parliament yet and therefore, the document was a “disputed one.” That was why, he said, he had not allowed its distribution.
3 - Similarly, when contacted to seek the official position of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), a spokesman Farhatullah Babar said that Article 270-AAA had been implanted through an executive order and unlike 270-AA, it has not been validated by the parliament. “As such it is not a valid piece of legislation in the eyes of law and the constitution,” he added’
I would like to ask Mr. Naek and especially Mr. Farhatullah Babar the question – According to above quotes, you consider the laws (PCO) made during the emergency are illegal because the parliament has not yet validated it. According to this once again, one can assume that the following to laws are illegal:-
- The sacking of the pre Nov. 3 judiciary;
- The appointment of new judges who took oath under the PCO. Then, what is the reason for the delay for the restoration of the judges when your stance is so clear?
Mr. Jan,I hope the above arguments would have cleared the ambiguity and made you realize that the stance of PPP was similar to that of PML-N. In fact, PPP has broken the promises so that they can enjoy the benefits of the throne.
