FAISALABAD, June 30: Human Rights Commission of Pakistan director IA Rehman says “the so-called democracy being practiced by the rulers is managed by a cartel comprising elite class.”

Speaking at the local press club on Friday, Rehman said that there was absolutely no rule of law in the country while the rulers had adopted the policy of kidnapping and killing those exposing its misdeeds.

The freedom of expression, according to him, was not satisfactory in the country. “Dictators in the past harassed journalists and human rights activists through various means but now abduction, torture and killing of journalists had become a routine affair,” he added.

Rehman said that citizens had the right to elect their rulers but now this right had been usurped and personalities were being presented before the nation to accept them as their rulers.

Commenting on the issue of vote of confidence for the president from the present assemblies, he said that if this plan was implemented there would be no use of holding the general elections.

He declared the graduation bar for contesting elections and third term restriction for the prime ministership against the norms of democracy.

He further said that newsmen had been facing innumerable problems in access to information, publication of factual position and exposing the true face of the top brass. “This situation is worst as compared to previous tenures, including martial law regimes.”

According to him, the number of channels or publications was not a criteria to measure the freedom of expression. “What is being printed and aired does matter.”

Rehman said it was really frsutrating to note that a senior economist of the country had been shown the door for not counter-signing a report pertaining to `fictitious’ figures of government’s success story.