Ijaz Kakakhel Islamabad
Denying any rifts between the executive and judiciary, the senators of the ruling coalition called for respect to elected representatives, saying that parliament is a supreme institution of the country.
Addressing the upper house of parliament on Wednesday, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said parliament is supreme institution and the people of the country “are the creator of the Constitution” — under which all institutions function. He also called for stopping the institutional interference, saying that Constitution directed all institutions to work within their domain.
“Those Constitutional institutions that are meddling must not interfere [into the other institutions’ domain],” he added. The law minister said the contempt of notice powers should not be as a “weapon” against politicians. He also shared opinion of his colleagues, saying “some parliamentarians believe that if they are summoned by courts then they should also summon them”. However, Tarar said he believed that a restraint should be exercised. The law minister said there was a need for self-accountability to learn lessons from history.
He said his party was not happy over the incarceration of the politicians and lamented the “victimization” of Pakistan Muslim League-N leaders via adverse court decisions. Recalling the disqualification of former premier Nawaz Sharif, Tarar questioned: “Will only politicians remain at the receiving end?” He said the Constitution did not allow courts to say whatever they wanted. However, in the same address, the minister also denied the reports of rifts between the institutions.
Addressing the House, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan Senator Faisal Sabzwari called for formulating a code of conduct to determine “who could be insulted”. “Everyone is respected except for elected representatives who receive hundreds of thousands of votes,” he added. Sabzwari said the Constitution also spoke about the dignity of the elected representatives, regretting that the politicians are disrespected frequently. “People’s representative is the proxy of the people,” the senator said, adding that no one has authority except parliament to amend the law and Constitution.
PML-N’s Senator Talal Chaudhry, convicted of committing contempt of court in 2018,advocated for abolishing the law. “The judiciary’s respect will increase from punishing those who break the law, not those who make it,” he added.
