ISLAMABAD: Parliament has failed to play a role towards resolving the present political crisis in the country, which emerged after opposition parties decided to bring a no-trust move against Prime Minister Imran Khan in a bid to oust him from power.

This was said by speakers at the ‘Dialogue Pakistan 2022’, organised by Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies (Pips). The aim of the event was initiating discussions related to politics, governance, transparency, peace and security in the country.

The primary responsibility, besides others, of the parliament is to be responsive to all crises related to economy, governance and politics but the existing one has failed to find a solution to the current political upheaval that is fast moving towards bringing political and economic instability in the country, participants of the event pointed out

Senior leader of Balochistan National Party and member of Balochistan Assembly Sana Ullah Baloch said that parliament should be responsible however the present parliament did not fulfill this criteria, adding parliament used to have its own code of conduct to fulfill its responsibilities in a crisis-like situation.

PPP leader Qamar Zaman Kaira said the masses and civil society would have to play their role and public pressure needed to be built on the institutions to ensure that they could function and deliver properly. He said that they would have to give space to the parliament by standing behind the institution. “At present, the space for the parliament is continuously shrinking,” he added.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister RaoofHasan in his remarks said that the concept of reconciliation without truth becomes irrelevant, adding that political parties did not want to bring an independent system of accountability that could hold responsible both the powerful and the common people without any discrimination. He said in the present system, the powerful elite did not want themselves to be held accountable. “There is no concept of rights without responsibility.”

Former national security advisor retired Lt Gen Nasser Khan Janjua said that the future of the region lies in connectivity and Pakistan can become a trade corridor of Asia by getting access to Central Asian states through Afghanistan. “Afghanistan is our partner for the future,” he said.

During the event, a ‘Charter of Peace’ was launched. It is a document laying down recommendations for countering radicalisation and extremism in Pakistan which been designed after several consultations with stakeholders including the religious and political leadership of the country.

Another report titled ‘How Youth in Pakistan View State, Society, Religion, and Politics’ was launched which includes views of over 700 university students surveyed by the institute from all across the country.

Dutch Ambassador Wouter Plompin his opening remarks at the launching of the report said that youth was part of the solution, given they were provided opportunities to think rationally. The concerns about single national curriculum (SNC) must be addressed to make the syllabus inclusive, he added.

Published in Dawn, March 28th, 2022