KARACHI: Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) president Maulana Fazlur Rahman said on Wednesday that the country’s politicians and political system had been made a mockery of, and added that they would face even more humiliation in the future if they did not unite and decide on a code of conduct.

Pakistan’s democratic set-up was so fragile that perhaps there was no such example in the world, he said, adding that everyone knew who was to blame for the state of affairs, still it was impossible for anyone to call them out publicly.

The MMA chief was addressing a press conference on Wednesday, joined by other MMA leaders including Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidery, Muhammad Akram Durrani, Maulana Amjad Khan, Maulana Osman Badyani, Allama Rashid Mehmood Soomro and Qari Usman.

Discussing the role of the media, he said Pakistan’s media promoted a peculiar mindset which had a negative impact on the country. Instead of highlighting the real problems of the ummah, politicians were being branded as thieves, he said, so much so that state institutions including the judiciary and the Election Commission of Pakistan were questioning the political system. He added that people were now questioning the political system and harbouring a hatred for politicians and their political representatives. “Such attitudes have further weakened the political system.”

Earlier, Maulana Rahman said that even though colonial powers had apparently wrapped up business in other countries by 1945, they had gone on to found institutions to keep post-colonial countries in check. They had made it obligatory for developing countries to follow their orders and implement their decisions, and any deviance from their position could result in economic sanctions for these countries, he said.

“This is also a form of global slavery or colonisation,” he said, adding that decisions pertaining to Pakistan were taken with the consent of the UN Geneva Convention, the Security Council, the Human Rights Com­mission, CTBT and other international forums. He said it had become obligatory for developing countries to implement their rules, even if they were contrary to the Constitution. “We have to obey their decisions or face economic blockades... Even our budget is prepared according to the International Monetary Fund’s directives,” he lamented.

He said all institutions — political, financial, defence and judiciary — operated under pressure from global powers but did not, once, think about freeing themselves from their hegemony.

Maulana Rehman recalled that the country had had several leaders “imported” from abroad, for example, Moeen Qureshi was nominated as prime minister before his national identity card and passport were made. Similarly, Moeenuddin and Shaukat Aziz had gone back to the countries that had come from after completing their respective tenures in power.

Replying to a question, the MMA chief said during retired General Pervez Musharraf’s tenure, the National Accountability Bureau had recovered embezzled money from many people. When the list of people they had taken action against was made public, the highest recovery had been made from army generals, followed by bureaucrats and politicians, he said.

Published in Dawn, March 22nd, 2018