LAHORE: Former federal minister and known lawyer S.M. Zafar says the masses want an end to the environment of confrontation among state institutions.

Speaking at a seminar on ‘Harmony among State Institutions’ here, he said the masses were against confrontation among the institutions and believed that the crisis could be resolved by taking the path of truth.

He said the Supreme Court’s verdict against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was based on a weak argument. He said the people have constitutional right to franchise and therefore the Senate and National Assembly polls should be held in time to provide them an opportunity to choose their government.

Pakistan Institute of National Affairs (PINA) Secretary-General Altaf Hassan Qureshi said the seminar had been organised for getting positive suggestions to steer the country out of the present situation. Dialogue at national level was very important as there seemed a lack of trust and balance between the institutions, he said and suggested forming a national council that could resolve such confrontations and urged upon political parties not to take their issues in courts.

PML-N central media coordinator Muhammad Mehdi called for a change in behaviour of political parties and avoiding any non-political step that could blow up the situation. He said the present situation developed when only a specific set of judges was deputed to hear cases against the Sharifs and that too at an unprecedented fast pace leading to suspicions that something behind the scene was being cooked up.Awami National Party’s Ehsan Wyne said that only continuity of democracy could resolve problems facing the masses and warned that the country was bifurcated in 1971 only because of anti-democratic steps.

Published in Dawn, February 26th, 2018