Asif’s address an attempt to cover up corruption: JI, PTI

Via The News : LAHORE: Opposition parties termed President Zardari’s address to the joint session of parliament nothing but an attempt to fool the nation to cover up worst corruption committed in national history.

Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Syed Munawar Hasan termed President Zardari’s claims of establishing supremacy of the constitution and law, containing inflation and devising new plans to overcome the energy crisis a totally false and blatant attempt to fool the nation.

He said as for as the supremacy of the constitution was concerned, the president was the symbol of the federation and was supposed to be above party politics. “President Zardari, on the other hand, is still holding the party office despite an order of the Lahore High Court, relegating the office of the president of Pakistan to a mere political office by jeopardizing its sanctity and impartiality,” he claimed.

The PPP government, he said, had not obeyed even a single order of the Supreme Court
and Prime Minister Gilani was arrogantly refusing to obey the apex court order to write to Swiss Banks about the president’s bank accounts. During the last four years, he said, resolutions of the parliament demanding giving up US slavery in foreign policy had been shamelessly disgraced.

The country, he said, had been in the grip of worst loadshedding of electricity only due to nonpayment to power companies. “Electricity tariff has been constantly raised on IMF demands although the government failed to supply electricity to the masses in spite of the capacity to produce requisite electricity,” he added.

He said the government had been printing currency notes of more than one and a half billion every day due to which inflation had gone up instead of coming down.

The JI Ameer said that the president had attempted to take credit for abolishing the FC black law whereas actually the local Political Agent had been given far more powers even that of awarding death sentence or life term to an accused without any evidence and also to confiscate property and there was no appeal against the decision. Under the FC law, on the other hand, a Jirga alone had the powers to punish an accused only up to fourteen years in jail.

Syed Munawar Hasan said that during the four years of the PPP-led coalition government, corruption, unemployment and prices had touched new heights, the country made a US slave, the masses were insecure and the country’s economy ruined. Major national institutions like PIA, Railway and Steel Mills were on the brink of ruin, he added. He said awarding the Most Favored Nation status to India was tantamount to stabbing the Kashmiris in the back. “India has been building dams on Pakistani rivers and instead of protesting to it, the rulers in Islamabad are making friends with New Delhi,” he added.

JI Secretary General Liaqat Baloch said the PPP-led government claiming credit for a 120 per cent raise in salaries had caused 500 per cent raise in prices.

The PPP, he claimed, had never held fair, free and impartial elections and its entire politics was based on rigging and stealing others’ mandate. He said that fair and transparent elections were possible only with President Zardari’s ouster from his office.

Pakistan Tehrik Insaf (PTI) leaders Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed, Zaheer Abbas Khokhar, Dr Murad Ross, Yasir Gilani, Sh Imtiaz and others said President Zardari’s address to the parliament was not meant for the Pakistani people but his audience was in some big capitals across the oceans.

The PTI leaders said Zardari group did nothing for the poor masses during the last four years except forcing them to commit mass suicides over hunger, poverty and humiliation.

Calling the Zardari regime the most corrupt ever witnessed, the PTI leaders said leaders of the PML-N were equal partners in all their crimes. Citing world reports revealing that the Zardari-Gilani regime caused corruption of over Rs 8,500 billion, the PTI leaders alleged the corrupt rulers had made it impossible for the poor masses to keep the body and soul together.

Posted in: Corruption in Pakistan