Imran Khan questions efficacy of Pakistani parliament

by hussain | November 24, 2008 at 10:21 pm

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In view of the continued US drone attacks inside the country, Pakistan’s firebrand cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, who heads the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf or Justice Movement, has questioned the usefulness of the country’s parliament that came into existence following the February 18 general elections.

Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan on Monday said there was no justification for the legislators to remain part of parliament if the resolution adopted by its special session was not implemented.
Speaking to a charged rally taken out by his party activists from Aabpara intersection to the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Press Club camp office here, Imran argued that if the consensus resolution of parliament went unheeded, what was the worth of parliament then?
“I call on all members of parliament to resign if the special session’s resolution is not going to be implemented. Do you see any logic in spending huge amounts of money from the national exchequer on such a useless exercise then,” the PTI chairman asked.
In his emotional speech, Imran made it clear that in case the United States resorted to any other attack on the tribal areas, the entire nation should take to streets in protest, conveying to the strikers in clear terms that these would be no more acceptable to them.
Pleading for talks to sort out the problems in Fata, Imran said an experts’ team from the tribal areas should visit the US to apprise President-elect Barack Obama of the factual situation and tell him clearly that the use of force had been counterproductive.
“It must be made clear to the US that because of military attacks inside Fata, not only Pakistan is suffering, problems are also increasing for the US,” he emphasised. Turning his guns to President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, Imran alleged that both of them had come to power after yielding to the US dictation. “They are imposing decisions of their choice on the nation, ignoring even parliament,” he maintained.
He castigated the PPP-led coalition for throwing the nation into the clutches of the International Monetary Fund. Imran claimed that according to his sources in the tribal areas, so far at least 10,000 people had been martyred and another 20,000 injured in the US strikes. He wondered whether there was any mechanism to ascertain as to how many of those killed were actually terrorists and how many innocent citizens?
Referring to the present state of affairs, Imran apprehended that things were drifting towards a situation like that in erstwhile East Pakistan.