Mamnoon Hussain
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani president-elect Mamnoon Hussain has pledged to play a non-partisan role after assuming his new office, besides striving to ensure harmony among the country’s vital national institutions as well as federating units.
“There will only be discussions on national politics in the Presidency and not of any particular party. I will try my best to ensure the impartial stature of the president,” Hussain said in an interview with a private television channel aired yesterday.
He spoke on a host of issues, including the challenges faced by the country, such as the energy crisis, terrorism, law and order and foreign policy issues, besides his personal life. Regarding the situation of law and order in the country, Hussain mentioned the observation of the Supreme Court that political parties had militant wings that needed to be rid of.
He was confident that Interior Minister Nisar Ali would come up with a comprehensive policy to tackle law and order issues through enhanced coordination and information sharing among intelligence and law enforcement agencies and said the criminals could be discouraged only if they were sentenced for their offences, which he observed was possible by bringing the law enforcement and intelligence agencies on the same page.
Hussain lauded the proactive role of the judiciary that had been keeping an eye on human rights and violation of rules, and said that the Supreme Court and high courts took suo moto notices to rectify the wrongs. However, he observed that the country lacked the mechanism for witness protection, which was why criminals could not be sentenced in high-profile cases, because the witnesses usually refuse to record testimony or backtrack for the fear of death.
He said the matter was raised in party meetings and “hopefully necessary legislation would be made in this regard”. He said that within one and a half months of the new government, power production had increased to 17,000 megawatts, which was between 11,000MW and 12,000MW in the past.
About the situation of law and order in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the president-elect said the importance of peace dialogue could never be undermined, and that doors to dialogue should always remain open. However, he supported the use of force against militants neither willing to be part of a dialogue, nor accepting the government’s writ.
The president-elect opined that more innocent civilians than militants were being killed in drone attacks, which caused a sense of revenge among the victim families. “As a result, suicide bombers are created, poised to avenge the killings of their loved ones,” he said and urged the US authorities to trust Pakistan’s government and share intelligence information on terrorists instead of taking unilateral actions.
Hussain was of the view that national sovereignty could be better protected through strengthening the country politically as well as economically. He stressed the creation of a think tank to guide the government on national security and foreign policy issues.
He said that Pakistan wanted to establish friendly ties with India. He recalled Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s previous tenure when the latter brought along with him his Indian counterpart to Pakistan through a bus and also took him to Minar-e-Pakistan. He said that with the passage of time, the army had also changed its mindset towards democracy, realising the fact that Pervez Musharraf’s policies had undermined their image as an institution.
Internews
