JUI Quetta Rejects ‘Dictatorship in Democratic Garb’, Says Public Mandate and Parliament Held Hostage
QUETTA: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Quetta district leaders have said that dictatorship under the cover of democracy is completely unacceptable, adding that the public mandate and parliament have practically been held hostage.
The statement was issued by JUI Quetta ameer Sheikh-ul-Hadith Maulana Abdul Rahman Rafiq, secretary general Haji Ainullah Shams, senior naib ameer Maulana Khursheed Ahmed, Maulana Muhibullah, Maulana Muhammad Ayub, Sheikh Maulana Abdul Ahad Muhammad Hasani, Maulana Saeed Ahmed, Hafiz Sirajuddin, Mufti Muhammad Rozi Khan Badizai, Maulana Muhammad Shoaib Jadun, Rahimuddin Advocate and Maulana Muhammad Arif Shamsheer.
They said democracy, the Constitution and parliament have unfortunately been reduced to hostages. Insulting the people’s vote and mandate, crossing constitutional limits and persistently rendering parliament powerless have inflicted severe damage on the country’s democratic system, they added.
The leaders said running state affairs outside the Constitution and law, and promoting undemocratic practices, is poison for the country’s future and national unity. Democracy, they stressed, is not merely the holding of elections but the people’s right to govern and the supremacy of parliament. When the value of the public vote is weakened, parliament is stripped of authority and constitutional limits are violated, the democratic system is reduced to a mere formality.
They said the dominance of powerful quarters, unnecessary interference in political affairs and an ego-driven style of governance were pushing the country into isolation at home and abroad, with negative effects on national politics, the economy and state stability.
A rubber-stamp parliament and disregard for the public mandate have dragged the country into a swamp of political and constitutional crises, they said. The present situation demands that all state institutions work within their constitutional limits, the dignity and authority of parliament be restored, and the people’s real mandate be respected.
They made it clear that the only way out of political uncertainty, institutional conflict and growing crises is constitutional supremacy, parliamentary autonomy, the rule of law, respect for the constitutional domain of institutions, and recognition of the people’s right to govern.
