KARACHI: A day after Nawaz Sharif rejected the possibility of a technocrats’ government, Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani on Saturday echoed the ousted prime minister’s remarks, saying the Constitution did not allow such a set-up.

Talking to reporters after a seminar organised by the National Institute of Management, he emphasised the need for timely elections, saying it was the only way through which an elected government handed over the reins of power to next one.

The moot pertained to challenges of provincial autonomy after the adoption of the 18th Amendment in the country.

Senate chairman calls for across-the-board accountability

Mr Rabbani said that the 18th Amendment was a barrier against any unconstitutional moves in the country and urged state institutions to not interfere in each other’s mandated domains to ensure implementation of the law.

“The Constitution is supreme and all institutions should work under the purview of their constitutional obligations,” he said, adding that the mandate of people should be respected and the transfer of power should be in accordance with the opinion expressed by the masses through their votes.

Stressing the need to ensure across-the-board accountability to make the process result-oriented, he said: “All segments of society, including civil and military personnel, should be held accountable within the ambit of the Constitution.”

The Senate chairman pointed out that in his 14 points Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah had also laid emphasis on provincial autonomy.

Mr Rabbani also spoke of the successes achieved by Pakistan in the war against terrorism and lauded the contributions of the law enforcement agencies in this regard.

He called for the new National Finance Commission award.

Published in Dawn, November 5th, 2017