QUETTA: Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has said ousted premier Nawaz Sharif is expected to return to the country from London soon and urged state organs, including the judiciary, to ‘rectify injustices’ done to him.

Injustices done to the PML-N supreme leader were very much evident and those responsible for it were supposed to ensure remedy, ex-PM Abbasi asserted while addressing a joint presser along with former finance minister Miftah Ismail, ex-senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, Nawab Lashkari Raisani and Mir Humayun Aziz Kurd here on Sunday.

Mr Abbasi said, “I always say it is the responsibility of the judiciary to review its decisions that have had [adverse] effects on Pakistan.”

He said he did not want to recount all those issues and whatever effect the judiciary’s decisions and actions had on the country, but they had played a major role in the matters that plunged the country into multiple crises.

Abbasi says present political system lacks capacity to take country out of crises

In a bid to clear any misgivings that may have emerged due to the speeches during the recently held National Dialogue on Reimagining Pakistan, organised by the Balochistan Peace Forum, the ex-premier explained that the speakers had “not criticised anyone” but talked about the issues and problems being faced by the country.

He attempted to make clear what he meant by those responsible for the turmoil by saying, “We all are responsible [for the current situation], including politicians, military establishment, judges [and] the media. We are not here to blame anyone,” he added.

However, Mr Abbasi in reply to a question said the country remained under martial law for a long time and military interference in politics even at present was not a secret.

“There is a need to end military’s interference in politics and political system. It [military] should play its role written in the Constitution and it will give you a way out to resolve the issues and time will prove it,” the PML-N leader told the presser.

At the same time, he admitted that the present political system — based on ‘selection’ of the members of the national and provincial assemblies and senate — lacked capacity to take the country out of the political and economic crises. “Problems of eight years cannot be solved in just eight months. We have no ability to resolve all issues in a limited time,” he added.

Real representatives

Responding to a question about Balochistan, Mr Abbasi said the selected representatives did nothing to resolve the problems being faced by the people of the province, just because they were “not their real representatives”. Only the real elected leadership could resolve the issues at grassroots level, he remarked.

Former finance minister Miftah Ismail, meanwhile, welcomed the coalition government’s decision to accept all demands of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to revive the loan programme. “I think that the decisions not made by the government in the past four months have caused damage to the economy. But I am now quite glad that the government has made the decision to sit with and talk to the IMF,” he responded to a question at the news conference.

Published in Dawn, January 23rd, 2023