ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah has said that courts do not have the authority to dissolve governments or usher in new administrations, adding that the Asghar Khan case verdict has now been “buried”, and that it is up to the people to make their judgment.

The Federal Minister for Religious Affairs was speaking to media representatives in an informal conversation at the Parliament House here on Wednesday.

Shah said that the Constitution provided clear methods for changing elected governments.

He said that in Pakistan, presidents had harmed democracy in the past. However, he claimed, the serving president was the “greatest defender of democracy”.

Shah said that President Asif Ali Zardari would not participate in the campaign for the upcoming general election. Moreover, he said that none of the governors would be changed in the caretaker setup for the upcoming elections.

Khursheed Shah remarked that in the past the decisions of Justice Munir and Justice Naseem were upheld, adding that the current judiciary’s decisions would also be similarly upheld in future.

Speaking on the issue of delimitation in Karachi, the federal minister said that it should not be conducted on ethnic basis. He added that the Supreme Court should instead order delimitation across Pakistan.