Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader and senior lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan Wednesday said it is the prime minister’s right to appoint army chief, a private TV channel reported.
“It is the question of parliament’s sovereignty,” he argued. “The court cannot intervene.” Aitzaz said the Supreme Court is a respectable institution but parliamentary sovereignty is supreme. “Regardless of whether Prime Minister Imran made the right decision or the wrong, it is not the right of the judge or anyone else to make this appointment.” He added that under Article 48 of the constitution, the court should not be commenting on how many people voted or did not vote in a cabinet meeting. “One can challenge the extension on the basis of qualification, but the prime minister, not the court, has the right to make that decision,” he said. Aitzaz said that Asif Zardari’s condition is more serious than Nawaz Sharif’s. “Zardari is an ‘iron man’, his health is not in a good state, however, he refrains from filing an appeal for bail despite the party leadership persuading him to do so,” he said. “Zardari has only two demands, he wants his personal physician and his case to be head in Karachi,” he said. He said Nawaz had fled the country in 2000 after striking deals with Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom. He said not conducting the trial in Karachi is sending a wrong impression.
