ISLAMABAD: Former information minister Fawad Chaudhry, who parted ways with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) following the May 9 riots, on Tuesday said that a charter to strengthen democracy could mend ties between the PTI chief and the establishment as well as the PTI chairman’s relationship with Nawaz Sharif.
Speaking to journalists outside the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), Fawad expressed weariness over the “bitterness” that has ensued between the powers that be and his former political party.
According to the now Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) leader, the need of the hour was a ‘charter of democracy’ before heading to polls, as he stressed that the prevalent circumstances in the country were not conducive to democracy and elections.
“Right now the situation is anything but normal,” he said, stressing that “returning to a state of normalcy is much more crucial than holding elections right now”.
“The differences between the PTI chief and the establishment need to be resolved. Similarly, the disagreements between Nawaz Sharif and the PTI chairman also need to be addressed,” he opined.
“How are elections possible in Pakistan without a resolution to this bitterness that persists? Let’s say polls are held, how will we address any issue that may come up in the process? There is no democratic atmosphere in Pakistan right now,” he added.
Proposing that a charter of democracy be agreed upon between the stakeholders, Fawad underscored that “we must decide now how to return matters to a state of normalcy”.
Otherwise, he said, he did not see a point in holding elections in the first place. He also expressed reservations about a caretaker setup that would be formed “according to Shehbaz Sharif and Raja Riaz’s wishes” which would be responsible for the provision of polls.
“We are neck deep into our disagreements, we are not even in a position to start talking about the issues Pakistan is confronted with,” he regretted.
It may be noted here that similar calls for a charter of democracy have echoed, primarily from the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) camp which is one of the major parties of the coalition government.
Earlier in April, PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari had urged Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to initiate ‘unconditional’ talks with the opposition, as “the door for talks should never be closed in politics”.
In the same address, Zardari had underscored that PPP former chairperson “Shaheed Benazir Bhutto and [former premier] Nawaz Sharif had inked a charter of democracy (CoD) in 2006 as undemocratic forces have always taken advantage of differences and communication gaps among political forces in the past.”
Meanwhile, in the same month, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif and PPP co-chair Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had vowed to complete the unfinished business of the charter.
