HYDERABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party Sindh president Nisar Ahmed Khuhro has said that Pir Pagara’s latest statement about strong likelihood of imposition of martial law in the wake of controversial conduct of Feb 8 elections and his claim that the courts will legitimize the military rule, is an affront to judiciary and the Chief Justice of Pakistan should take notice of it.

Pagara had sown panic and chaos in already polarized society. “Doesn’t it constitute offence under Article 6? because Pagara is insulting the judiciary,” he said at a news conference at the residence of PPP district president Saghir Qureshi on Saturday.

Flanked by Senator Maula Bux Chandio, district information secretary Ahsan Abro and others, Khuhro said that Pakistan could not afford a re-election. In view of split mandate PPP would not seek ministries as the party had decided to support its ally without becoming partner in coalition government, he said.

He said that PPP would not allow this democratic process to stop and it had hence shown utmost seriousness to get the assembly restored. Some people did not perhaps understand that Pakistan could not afford any undemocratic step at this juncture because political stability was directly linked with parliamentary process, he said.

He blamed ‘independents’ for creating chaos in the country and ridiculed Pir Pagara’s Friday protest in Jamshoro as a ‘poor’ show. Pir Pagara’s candidates were left helpless as they were nowhere to be seen in electioneering and Pagara was no longer part of active politics, he had staged this show at the instance of ‘some people’, he said.

He said that Pagara had addressed ‘institutions’ which might have heard him and would respond to him probably.

Khuhro said that all the Grand Democratic Alliance leaders were defeated elements. Liaquat Jatoi had lost four times and Sadruddin Shah Rashdi had suffered defeat in Khairpur. His party had lost in Khairpur and Sanghar in the past as well, he said.

He said that people remembered PPP had lost in 1990 and 1997 elections but it never talked about martial law then. “Pir Pagara should talk sense as the days of 1977 had passed,” he said, adding Pagara talked like this at the behest of ‘some people’ who pursued their own interests.

He said that Jamiat UIema-i-Islam-Fazl never won elections in Sindh yet it, too, was clamouring over its defeat. The party had lost in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “Why doesn’t it protest in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa?” said Khuhro, adding Dr Safdar Abbasi had likewise never won polls in Sindh.

He said that Maulana was sending overtures to those who had been hurling abuses at him. PPP would field its candidate for presidency. The 18th Amendment had become a thorn in the side of opponents and PPP wanted to safeguard the Amendment, which could only be further amended through a 2/3rd majority in the parliament but no single party had that majority, he said.

He said that Sindh had given a clear mandate to PPP and if anyone had complaints he should move election tribunal like the PPP, which had adopted this path over electoral defeats in the past.

Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2024