Summary "We hope the people who had wasted precious months of nation's life will learn from their mistakes"
LAHORE: (Web Desk, Dunya News) - Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday said that Pakistan has entered a new era of peace and prosperity after this landmark decision by the judicial commission, constituted to inquire the rigging allegations on General Election 2013. He said that he was ready to forget the sour memories of the past but it is hoped that the people who had wasted precious months of nation s life will learn from their mistakes, reported Dunya News.
Addressing the nation, Prime Minister said that the Inquiry Commission had been constituted to inquire the rigging allegations in General Elections 2013.
The three main questions that the commission had to inquire were as follows:
1 - Were the GE2013 held in accordance with the law?
2 - Were the GE2013 result changed through planned rigging?
3 - Were the GE2013 results reflective of the mandate given by the public through their votes?
Nawaz said, "Election Commission report says that in light of all the evidence provided, the commission believes that the Election 2013 were held in accordance with the law. The participating parties were not able to prove planned rigging and nothing put before the commission proved that the elections were rigged".
“We had also given a written commitment that if the commission said that the elections were rigged, the government would resign”
"In totality, there were some lapses by the Election Commission of Pakistan but still it cannot be said that the results were not reflective of the public mandate", Nawaz said. The text of the report has been made public and the commission provided all the parties the time and platform to provide the evidence of rigging.
Prime Minister said that it was one of the very few incidents in the world history when a government went into inquiring the elections that it had won. “We had also given a written commitment that if the commission said that the elections were rigged, the government would resign”, he added.
He said that it is a landmark decision by the commission. "It is a proof that the problems are solved in the parliament, not on roads and streets", he said.
However, the PM said that the electoral reforms are still a must and the government will continue to work on them. "Improvement in electoral system is a part of Pakistan Muslim League -Nawaz’s (PML-N) manifesto and I had ordered the Speaker National Assembly to form an electoral reforms committee in June 2014. This committee was formed and several meetings have already been conducted", he said.
PM said that instability hinders the progress. He said that everyone knows how much this instability has cost this country. "Had our politics been free of instability during the last 70 years, we would have been a strong country today", he said.
"Now we have to correct the mistakes made in the past and also discourage the people inciting violence. We don’t have any time for these baseless slogans and fake propaganda anymore. We now have to focus on the bright future", said the PM.
"Our economy is improving. Our international standing is much better. And Pakistan will be much stronger after three years compared to the one we have today"
"I do not want to go into the details of the successes the government has achieved during the last two years but it must be mentioned that the Pakistan we have today is much better than the one that we had two years ago. Our economy is improving. Our international standing is much better. And Pakistan will be much stronger after three years compared to the one we have today", he reiterated his resolve.
Appreciating the commitment of the nation in the war against terrorism, the PM said that our army, civilian institutions and civil-military law-enforcing agencies are fighting the terrorists in the mountains and valleys and caves of the North. "It is our resolve to bring peace to these mountains and our cities", he said.
"A new era has ushered in after this report of the judicial commission. Now that the highest judicial commission has said that the elections were not rigged, the conspiracies should be over"
Talking about the floods, PM said that many cities and villages of the country are suffering due to floods at this moment. "I have directed all the provincial governments to handle the issue in an efficient and effective manner and the federal government is also up to the task", PM said. He appreciated the government institutions and the army for their relief activities. He said that he was personally going to visit the flood affected areas and ensure relief work is implemented perfectly.
"A new era has ushered in after this report of the judicial commission. Now that the highest judicial commission has said that the elections were not rigged, the conspiracies should be over", Nawaz said.
"I do not believe that there should be any differences between the government and the opposition on national issues. I had promised the politics of values instead of politics of power", he said. “We knew there was no rigging in the GE2013 yet we decided to go for the judicial inquiry”, he said. He said that it is a proof that the issues should be resolved in the parliament, not on roads.
Prime Minister hoped the people who had wasted precious months of nation’s life will learn from their mistakes. “Let’s all start a new journey that is free of instability and chaos. This journey should introduce us to a new era of peace, prosperity and progress”, he added.
