September 21, 2008	Sunday	Ramazan 20, 1429

LAHORE, Sept 20: President Asif Ali Zardari’s speech in the joint session of both houses of parliament on Saturday was long on words but fell sadly short on deeds, says Pervaiz Rashid of the PML-N here on Saturday.

Reacting to the speech, he said it was more of a `play of words’ but one should still hope and pray that the PPP fulfilled its promises on the 17th Amendment, including the repeal of Article 58-2 (b).

“It is not time for forceful words alone, but they must be matched with powerful actions as well,” he said while talking to Dawn. President Zardari might not be feeling compelled for moving quickly on the 17th Amendment because of his own party’s government at the centre.

One must remember that it was not a matter concerning one government or individual but that of removing imbalances in the system. Pakistan and politicians, including President Zardari, had suffered too much because of power concentration in the hands of individuals. Thus, the anomaly in the system should be removed, he demanded and added: “There is a national consensus on removing the 17th Amendment. The government must move on quickly on the issue so that concentration could shift to other national problems.”

Though the president touched almost all national issues but avoided going into specifics of all these issues, thinks Raja Muhammad Bashrat of the PML-Q. Though all parties agree on removing the 17th Amendment, including repealing Article 58-2 (b), the president still preferred throwing the issue to a parliamentary committee. It would only prolong the solution and keep the country guessing.

There were a lot of expectations attached to the speech, but all of them had fallen flat, he said and added: “The president should have given categorical commitments on certain national issues like constitutional amendments, judicial crisis and relief to the common man.”

Jamaat-i-Islami acting amir Syed Munawer Hassan termed the speech “disappointing” because it did not address national crises. The president neither touched security issue nor inflation. Zardari had reached the presidency as a result of the Charter of Democracy. All the commitments made in the charter had been handed over to different parliamentary committees. “It is an attempt to prolong and confuse the issues.”

After consulting constitutional experts and party legal eagles, he said, the president should have made up his mind about the 17th Amendment and Article 58-2 (b). Both these issues had become a source of imbalance in the entire system of governance.“Instead of concentrating on domestic issues, the president preferred globetrotting. He has also assumed all those tasks which, constitutionally speaking, the prime minister should have been doing,” the JI leader added.