The Senate was thrown into disarray as a result of AGP’s ‘clarification’ of CJP’s statements.
Senator Rabbani raises the question of why the Attorney General did not defend Parliament in front of the highest court.
ISLAMABAD: The clarification of newly appointed Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Shehzad Ata Elahi about Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial’s remark about being a “honest premier” caused a commotion in the Senate on Tuesday.
The meeting between the members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the ruling Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) administration was presided over by Senate chief Sadiq Sanjrani.
The letter that AGP Elahi wrote to Law Minister Nazir Tarar over the CJP statements caused a riot in the House.
The AGP stated that the statement regarding the CJP’s words was “incorrect” in the letter, a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune, and urged the law minister to share accurate facts in this respect with other legislators for setting the record straight.
He had claimed that he had been present in the courtroom throughout the hearing and could attest that the chief judge of the supreme court had not made any comments against the sincerity of Pakistan’s prime ministers.
The CJP continued by stating that Muhammad Khan Junejo, the then-deposed prime minister of Pakistan, was a good and independent guy who was dismissed by Article 58(2)(b), according to the AGP.
Elahi went on to say that it appears that the statement that Junejo was the “sole honest premier” of the nation had “been misinterpreted and misstated.”
The explanation had been made a week after the upper house had been the scene of a contentious argument between members of the treasury and the opposition over CJP Bandial’s “remarks” made during a hearing on the appeal against the NAB legislation modifications.
Senator Raza Rabbani objected to the attorney general’s letter when the meeting got underway today.
The AGP addressed the situation because he was there in court, according to Tarar, and the Chief Justice Bandial’s remark about one honest premier was “social” and misinterpreted online.
If the AGP was so supportive of the Parliament and the judiciary, Senator Rabbani contended, he ought to stand up for the Parliament when it is under attack from the court. He went on to say that the AG should get a letter regarding the situation.
Shehzad Waseem of the PTI remarked that the AGP was exposing who was dishonest and who wasn’t. He continued by saying that the court had declared the Parliament to be insufficient and that the House had forced a sizable party, the PTI, up against a wall.
Senator Waseem argued that elections should be held if the Parliament wished to uphold the Constitution.
After the PTI remained in the lodges for eight months and protested when its resignations were accepted, the law minister questioned how the polls would proceed. He encouraged the previous ruling party to examine itself.
The Senate meeting was then put on indefinite hiatus.
