20000419

All sectors of economy destroyed during last 10 years: Qadri

HAFEEZ SHAIKH

HYDERABAD: The chief of Pakistan Awami Tahreek (PAT) and a GDA leader, Professor Dr. Tahir-ul-Qadri observed that it was a matter of regret that during the last ten to 12 years, all the three sectors of economy Ñ industry, commerce and agriculture Ñ had been retarded, the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) had declined, the production of cash crops was reduced and the law and order had completely disappeared from the country.

Speaking at a news conference at a local hotel here on Tuesday soon after his arrival from Karachi, he said the only increase that was witnessed in the country was in unemployment and water, power and resource mismanagement.

The GDA leader said that the people had welcomed military take-over on October 12 not because they liked army or martial rule but because they had hoped that political terrorism and loot and plunder would be eliminated in the country and those elements, who were responsible for creating massive unemployment and poverty and defamed the country, would be pilloried.

He stressed the need for revolutionary political reforms in which elections were held on the basis of proportionate representation where people were allowed to vote for manifesto and programme and not for individuals.

He said the need for political cleansing with a view to getting rid of the looters and plunderers was never so urgent as now. If this was not done, he said, it would be a great misfortune for the country and if the same old people or their cronies were brought to power then the military government will have committed a great crime.

He said the need of the hour was the ruthless and large scale accountability of the corrupt politicians and bureaucracy.

He said the process of elections should be clean and transparent where wealth or clout should not be allowed to play any part. Only the leadership of middle class could deliver the goods in the crisis real leadership facing the country.

Answering another question, he said that although he was not satisfied with the performance of the military government during the last six months vis-a-vis accountability, he was prepared to give them the benefit of doubt as investigations took a long time.

He, however, hastened to add that Ehtesab could not be held through traditional law and added that for Ehtesab, Ehtesabi laws were necessary.

Answering yet another question, Qadri said that as a professor of law he could say it with authority that Ehtesab Ordinance was foolproof enough to decide the accountability cases right from day one to the final appeal in the Supreme Court within 90 days.

He agreed with a questioner that it was extremely difficult to find evidence against the white collar crime but added that recourse could always be had to Article 62 and Article 63 of the Constitution of Pakistan.

About the district governments, Professor Qadri unequivocally said that rejection of this proposal by certain elements was not at all correct.

He said he himself and the GDA believed in three tiers of government Ñ federal, provincial and district governments Ñ and added that "this was a worldwide universalised phenomenon."

He, however, said that as some reservations were expressed on the proposal of district governments, the powers that be should simultaneoulsy announce a complete package about the powers of the federal, provincial and the district governments.

He did not agree with a questioner that the district government was supra constitutional and said that Article 32 of the Constitution was quite clear on the subject of local governments.

"Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) had come into existence to get rid of Nawaz Sharif and not to save him and if any GDA leader had different ideas, then he should ride on a new truck", he said.

He said never in the history of Pakistan in the past 52 years, authority was centralised to such an extent as had been done by the Nawaz Sharif government.

He pointed out that "absolute centralisation (of authority) gave birth to absolute corruption," adding that it also created sense of deprivation among the federating units and destroyed political, economic, financial and social rights of the masses. If the federating units were rendered weak then it naturally weakened the country, he stated.

Professor Qadri said that in Pakistan the ritual of holding elections after every three or five years was given the name of democracy.

He said the supreme irony was that 75 percent of rural population enjoyed the right of franchise yet it was denied this right for all practical purposes and also deprived of the fundamental right of participation in the government.

He said the fundamental principles of the federation during the previous regime and the provincial autonomy were violated and the country was rendered totally bankrupt.