Information Minister Kaira says Parliament is supreme not the apex court

Federal Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira has made it clear that parliament and not the apex court is the supreme institution of the country since it represents the will of the people.

Speaking to reporters, the minister stated, “There is no doubt that the Supreme Court is the apex court in the country, but when we talk about supreme institution, parliament is the supreme institution as per the Constitution.”

He also observed, “It is parliament which has the power to make, amend or abrogate the Constitution. Similarly, parliament has the right to abolish any institution. In fact, parliament is the mother of all institutions.”

Earlier, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary and Chief of Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani issued statements, creating media hype as analysts and pundits started speaking about a possible confrontation between the two institutions.

Rubbished such speculations, the minister, however, said both institutions not only made positive statements but also addressed some key complaints and grievances.

According to him, Gen Kayani’s speech took place two hours before Justice Chaudhary’s and that there was nothing against each other in both the statements.

In reply to a query he said, “It is fair to say that the whole institution should not be maligned for an individual’s act. At the same time, it is also right to ask for every institution to work within its limit.”

In an apparent move, the information minister endorsed the statement of Gen Kayani. He also criticized the role of media saying that it was also not appropriate to hold media trials of anyone, particularly politicians.

He lamented, “We (the politicians) are the most vulnerable. From media trial to court cases, we face everything when we are accused only to be proven innocent in the end.”

He also commented about the army’s current attitude towards politicians, saying even though the present approach was okay, in the past it was the army that simply removed civilian governments at an individual’s will.

He was of the opinion that institutions should be allowed to work and grow uninterrupted as people come and go but institutions are not built every day.

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Posted by Faisal Farooq on Nov 7 2012. Filed under Pakistan, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.