Former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Wednesday marked the final day of the ruling coalition’s government by lamenting its failure to deliver on the aspirations of the public.
Describing the outgoing National Assembly as the “worst assembly” for passing bills in haste that sought only to facilitate the government without providing any relief to the public, he said it was shameful that the people no longer trusted the government. This perception, he stressed, could only be reversed through targeted actions, and not meaningless legislation.
According to Abbasi, it would take another 10 years to revive the country’s economy. The fault for this lies on everyone in Parliament, he said, and reiterated calls for a “truth commission” to fix responsibility on who had played what role in bringing the country to this stage. “People say that all members of the assembly are corrupt and we show that they are correct,” he lamented, noting that dozens of private member bills were passed by the Lower House of Parliament within days. This, he said, raised questions about the credibility of members of the house.
Addressing Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, the former premier said he was the custodian of the reputation and dignity of the house and should have stopped the hasty passage of legislations without proper debate. “Dignity of the house has taken a nosedive,” he said, noting the public perception was that parliamentarians get elected to loot billions before returning home. He urged the chair and MNAs to take care of the dignity of the house.
On taxes, Abbasi questioned how Parliament could continue to impose taxes on the public without paying their due share of the same. “This is not leadership that you do not pay taxes but impose them on people,” he said, noting several parliamentarians had large staffs but their tax returns were minimal, raising questions over their honesty. Referring to his detention by the National Accountability Bureau, he said the one question he was never asked was whether or not he paid taxes.
The PMLN leader also lamented that the government was operating through loans with hefty interest payments, which were increasing the national debt burden.
During his farewell address, Abbasi further took aim at the ousted Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, stressing it had caused an “irreparable” loss to the dignity of the house. He regretted that it had committed actions against parliamentary norms and made the use of abusive language a regular occurred.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) lawmaker Khursheed Shah echoed the PMLN leader’s concerns. However, he emphasized, Parliament should recall that even the “worst democracy is better than the best dictatorship.” Similar views were voiced by PTI dissident Afzal Dhandla and Public Accounts Committee Chairman Noor Alam Khan.