MINGORA: Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party chairman Mahmood Khan Achakzai said on Sunday that Pakistan was facing serious internal and external problems and the establishment alone could not take the country out of the current crisis without taking the people and parliament on board.

He was addressing a public meeting here at Khwazakhela, Swat. He said that the Constitution was a social contract between the federation and federating units and citizens and the state.

“Under the Constitution, an elected parliament should have monopoly over formulating policies of the federation,” he said.

Mr Achakzai said that every institution in the country should function in its constitutionally-specified ambit as deviation by any institution from the constitutional path could further push the country into the quagmire.

Says country facing serious internal, external threats

“Countless political workers have died or suffered just for violation of Section 144, but no dictator has been taken to task yet for violation of the Constitution,” he lamented.

The PkMAP leader said that without peace and stability in Afghanistan and cordial relations with India, any hope of peace and prosperity in the region, particularly in Pakistan, would be a pipe dream. “The success of CPEC or any other development and investment plan depend on the peace and stability in the region,” he maintained.

He condemned the terrorist attack on a church in Quetta and offered condolences for the victims and expressed solidarity with them. He emphasised that terrorism could not be defeated without the support of people.

“It is misleading and ironical to associate terrorism and extremism with Pakhtuns,” he said and proposed international conference on the issue to determine the causes and factors of terrorism and extremism with historical references.

Mr Achakzai while emphasising interfaith harmony said that apart from religious, cultural and ethnic relations, humanity was a common bond among human beings and therefore no creed, culture and language should be discriminated against, but respected equally.

“Inequality is the outcome of exploitation by the usurpers and powerful. PkMAP believes in struggle for the due political, economic and cultural rights of Pakhtuns as well as respecting the same rights of other nationalities in the federation of Pakistan,” he maintained.

About Fata, the PkMAP chief reiterated his stance that any decision regarding the future of tribal areas should be taken with the consent of the people.

He said that Fata reforms should be focused on the welfare of the people without changing its geographical status. The gathering was also addressed by Senator Usman Kakar.

Published in Dawn, December 18th, 2017