Daily Times

SARGODHA: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Friday said he had visited Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar as a ‘faryadi’ (complainant), while referring to the reported remarks of the top judge during a hearing a day earlier wherein he had said his job was to listen to the plea of every ‘faryadi’.

Apprising a public gathering here about his meeting with the chief justice of Pakistan, the prime minister asked as to why the opposition was so perturbed over their interaction. “I am the prime minister of this nation. [I am the] prime minister of this country. Chief justice heads an institution. If I find any difficulties in official working of government, I am bound to meet him and try to remove those,” he remarked.

The prime minister said that the country belonged equally to all including himself, Imran Khan and even the chief justice. “How the country will run if we confine ourselves to our offices and not talk to each other?” he asked, arguing that there was no harm in interaction when the objective is country’s development only.

The prime minister said the meeting continued for two hours and “I hope he would have understood my words. I also listened to him. The countries are run this way only. This is nothing new.”

He also appeared to quash speculations that the purpose of meeting with the CJP was to work out a deal for his ousted predecessor Nawaz Sharif. “My witness is the chief justice,” he said. “I don’t want to discuss the meeting but I can tell you that we did not discuss any personal issues,” he added.

The prime minister, during his address, reiterated that Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani had been elected through bought votes. “I am saying this again today that money was used to get the Senate chairman elected,” he said. “He [Sanjrani] cannot represent Pakistan.”

The prime minister challenged political rivals PTI chief Imran Khan and PPP supremo Asif Zardari to say it on the record that MPAs were not bought. “I challenge Imran and Zardari to appear on the television and say that MPAs and votes were not bought.”

“Imran has forgotten how he used to lament that Asif Zardari had bought 14 PTI MNAs. And when the time to elect the chairman of Senate came, he voted for Zardari’s candidate,” Abbasi said, adding that he was proud that his party had not spent a single rupee during the Senate elections.

“Our opponents are disturbed these days over my remarks about Senate chairman. I repeat that people of Pakistan do not accept the seats obtained using money. Those who have become senator or Senate chairman using money cannot represent Pakistan. These people need to be sent packing,” he said. “This politics of money and political wheeling and dealing needs to end once and for all,” he added.

Abbasi also rubbished all allegations of corruption against Nawaz Sharif. “I say this again that the accusations against Nawaz Sharif are completely baseless. When we go to the courts, there is no evidence, no witnesses and no allegations of corruption. But when the court order came, Nawaz Sharif didn’t even wait for the ink to dry … he implemented the order and left the office,” he said.

“Not so long ago, the same courts had turned Nawaz Sharif into a hijacker. Now there was just an iqama … still he was disqualified. We don’t expect any justice from the accountability court even,” he added.

The prime minister was confident that the politics of abuse will be buried in the 2018 general elections. He expressed the faith that the incumbent government will complete its tenure.

The prime minister, who earlier unveiled plaques to launch three mega development projects, said both Pervez Musharraf and Zardari failed to carry out development projects like gas and power supply, roads, dams or canals.

He said as the incumbent government assumed power, the country used to import a million ton of fertilizer and also inherited gas and power crises, closed power plants and industries. He said that the government did not allow the sit-ins or court cases to impede the course of national development and carried out development projects more than even those done during last 65 years.

Published in Daily Times, March 31^st 2018.