Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Saturday said that politicians deserve the same respect as judges and generals.
Addressing separate ceremonies in Pasrur and Narowal, the prime minister remarked that a country which doesn’t respect its politicians can never progress. He said the politicians were mandated by masses to serve the country so they deserved due respect and stressed that country’s progress was linked with this reverence. He said there would be no progress and development in the country till public representatives were accorded due respect. “Politicians should have the same respect as enjoyed by anyone else. The running of the country’s affairs was vested only with the politicians who were chosen by electorate through their ballots,” he added.
The prime minister said the politicians worked for the country and always appeared before the public for their accountability after every five years. They lived in glass houses and had to bear all the stuff appearing in the newspapers or on TV channels, he added.
The prime minister stressed the need for giving respect to the public mandate. He said they always respected judicial verdicts and implemented those but decisions against politicians were neither accepted by the people nor the history would endorse them.
He referred to former foreign minister Khawaja Asif, who was present at the stage, and said the people of the area knew his political background very well. “On the issue of mere possessing a visa, he was disqualified,” he said, questioning whether such decisions would serve the country.
The prime minister observed that the constitution was very clear about the role of politicians and the masses in running the government’s affairs. He emphasized that all institutions in the country should function within their constitutional limits. He said people of the country had mandated the PML-N government to run affairs of the country and it would function till last minute.
The prime minister made it clear that running affairs of the government was neither the domain of the courts nor the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). He stressed upon the ECP to ensure holding of elections within 60 days as there were certain elements who did not want the general elections to be held on time. It was the requirement of the constitution to hold elections within 60 days after the completion of tenure by a democratic government, he said, and warned the political adversaries that they would go to the courts and the public if any delay was caused in holding of elections.
The prime minister said the PML-N government implemented the judicial verdicts and never challenged those. PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif also proved it, he said, adding the PML-N government never went for the blame game and demeaned anyone as it always promoted decency in politics.
The prime minister said that all institutions in the country should work for the development of the country and save it from plunging back into the darkness. “With judicial verdicts and NAB’s functioning, the country could not attain progress,” he added.
Referring to the tactics of the political opponents, the prime minister regretted that if instability had not been created, the country could have achieved greater progress and development. He said though Nawaz Sharif could not contest elections due to a judicial verdict but it was a reality that the people would vote for him in the next election. The prime minister said the country which was once could not get $65 dollar investment was now being injected with $65 billion dollars projects. He said the countrymen could see a huge difference between the economic situation of country in 2013 and 2018. He expressed the hope that the PML-N would bag more seats in the upcoming general elections on the basis of its dedication and work.
Directing his criticism towards PTI Chairman Imran Khan, Abbasi said if Korea, China or Germany had the leaders like him, their development pace would have also been halted. “PTI’s dharna politics had undermined the country’s development. Running of country’s affairs could not be handed over to person like Imran Khan who had no experience of even working in a union council,” he added.
Published in Daily Times, May 6th 2018.
