Kaira asks Qadri who he is levelling ground for

LAHORE: Federal Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira has asked Tahirul Qadri for who he is levelling the ground for by holding an ill-timed and unnecessary long march at this critical juncture of the country’s history when the nation is going for general elections.

Talking to the media after attending the 8th South Asian Free Media Association (Safma) conference at a local hotel here on Wednesday, Kaira said the caretaker set-up would be decided in line with the Constitution. He further claimed that the mandate of such an interim set-up was only to facilitate the Election Commission of Pakistan and had nothing to do with formulating policies. He was of the view that the upcoming polls would be free and fair and would be held on time.

Kaira said Tahirul Qadri’s proposed January 14 long march should be peaceful; otherwise, it would harm the country.

He also urged Qadri to get his party registered with the Election Commission of Pakistan in order to become a legitimate stakeholder and to join the process of consultation on the interim caretaker set-up. He was of the view that Tahirul Qadri wanted the electoral reforms in the country before elections and also wanted to be part of consultations on caretaker government despite the fact that he had not registered his party with the ECP.

Kaira went on saying that Qadri could address the ECP, ask Parliament and even approach the judiciary if he was not satisfied with the electoral reforms. He stated the people had the right to congregate, protest and raise voice for their demands, but it should be done within legal framework.

He claimed that it was now the duty of the media and the political parties to determine whether it was constitutional right of an individual to suspend state processes. He claimed that the Parliament’s committee on electoral reforms has also submitted its recommendations to Parliament.

He dispelled the impression that the government was afraid of the long march and claimed that Qadri must elaborate on the slogan and aims of his march to Islamabad, which is a city of about two million people.

While terming Qadri’s statements as self-contradictory, Kaira claimed that despite having no desire to become part of the government, he still wanted to lead a march.

Kaira responding to a query on the violation of Line of Control claimed the Foreign Office had registered a strong protest with the Indian Deputy High Commissioner over it. He was of the view that incidents could not break or disrupt the dialogue process between Pakistan and India.

Earlier, Kaira addressed the concluding session of the 8th annual Safma Conference and stressed the need to enhance regional cooperation and strengthening Saarc on the pattern of the European Union.

Safma President (Pakistan Chapter), Nusrat Javeed, Safma Secretary, Imtiaz Alam, delegates from Saarc countries, and a large number of media persons were present at the concluding session.

Kaira stressed the need for the creation of a South Asian Parliament (SAP) to strengthen coordination among regional governments in various sectors.He claimed that the creation of SAP would help form South Asian Free Trade Area (Safta), South Asian currency, South Asian collective security and South Asian Union (SAU) on the pattern of the European Union.

The minister said the declaration of the 14th Saarc Summit should be implemented for greater connectivity and opening of routes as well as borders among the member states.

He said the distribution and management of water resources, though quite a divisive issue among the upper and lower riparian regions, needs to be undertaken amicably in the spirit of riparian rights without depriving the lower riparian regions of their due rights.

Regarding energy sector, he called for evolving a South Asian energy grid with integrated electricity and gas systems. The gas and oil pipelines, electricity transmission lines along with highways and railways can run from Central Asia and Iran, through Pakistan and Afghanistan to whole of the South Asia and ending with South East Asia.

The minister said the PPP-led coalition government stood for greater interaction and free movement of human beings and merchandise across South Asia, adding that South Asia, today, booms with ideas of regional cooperation and economic cooperation.

Kaira said significant sections of intelligentsia, economists, experts, journalists and peace activists have begun to take a holistic approach towards the collective good of the region.

He stressed the need to document populations, establish greater integration of databases and trust technological substitutes over cumbersome procedures.

He said the PPP had always envisioned closer ties among South Asian nations, adding that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto held dialogue with Indira Gandhi and initiated friendly ties with Pakistan’s South Asian neighbours while Benazir Bhutto urged greater cooperation among South Asian nations to fight against extremist and terrorist ideologies.

He said the government also initiated reconciliation policy towards its neighbours, adding that Pakistan had taken a number of initiatives to build friendship with its South Asian partners.

Lauding the role of Safma, he said the body had played a vital role in defining South Asian vision and strategies to develop a regional economic togetherness.Kaira congratulated Safma, as associated body of Saarc, and its Secretary General Imtiaz Alam for promoting peace and regional cooperation and the Saarc agenda.

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