Tag: Shahid Khaqan Abbasi

Awam Pakistan President and former Prime Minister (PM) Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Thursday made a controversial statement, saying that the Chief Justice of Pakistan’s (CJP) status is lower than that of a peon today.

Speaking on a private media outlet, Abbasi, while criticising the recently passed 26th Constitutional Amendment, said, “Chief Justice’s status is lower than that of a peon today.”

“You [Shahid Khaqan Abbasi) are making a bold claim; I’m not sure whether I [the program host] will be able to air this,” the political talk show host reacted to the ex-PM’s statement.

“Take it on air, I’m ready to say something even bigger than this,” the former Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) leader said. The host warned Abbasi that he could face contempt from the courts for such remarks. “Go ahead,” Abbasi responded.

Abbasi explained that the Supreme Court is meant for constitutional matters; however, the incumbent government has established a bench where they appoint the judges themselves.

Dubbing the 26th Constitutional Amendment destruction of the judiciary, Abbasi claimed that the amendment would cause so much damage to the country that it would not be calculated.

He claimed that the individual who had introduced the amendment bill in the Senate had not even read the bill, asking why the bill was passed in the wee hours on October 20, 2024.

Following the 26th Constitutional Amendment, the most senior judge to be appointed as the CJP was ruled out. The top judge was “appointed on the recommendation of the Special Parliamentary Committee from amongst the three most senior,” SC judges, as per the amendment.

The Special Parliamentary Committee, consisting of 12 members, including eight from the National Assembly and four members from the Senate, is responsible for sending the name of the nominee to the prime minister, who then forwards the same to the president for appointment, said the amendment.

Following the amendment, the Shehbaz Sharif-led government appointed the third most senior judge, Yahya Afridi, as the country’s top judge in October 2024.

The TV host, citing government claims that interest rates have dropped and textile exports have significantly surged, prompted Abbasi to recount that 16 deportees were sitting in a flight when he was coming from Turkiye to Sharjah. “All of the deportees were Pakistanis. They were doctors, engineers and IT experts,” he said, alluding to the unemployment crisis in the country.

“The incumbent government is unelected, and people have no trust in it,” he firmly stated.

In an interesting development, former Prime Minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) member Shahid Khaqan Abbasi while appearing on a Dawn News program, revealed, “I personally know about three people who were killed by bullet injuries in PTI protests, two of whom are from my constituency.”

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) official page on X (formerly Twitter) shared the interview on November 28 as the party claims that security forces opened fire on protestors leading to multiple fatalities – a claim the government wholly denies.

Abbasi’s revelation however came as a surprise as he criticised the government for the “extreme use of force” on the protestors warning that “one day they would all have to pay for this violence.”

Journalist Arifa Noor asked Abbasi about the general perception being created by the state highlights the deaths of only security officials in the protests but not any civilians.

Abbasi replied: “Tell the mother or father of that innocent civilian who lost his life in the protest that your son is alive. Unjust death is martyrdom. I personally know about three people who were killed by bullet injuries in PTI protests, two of whom are from my constituency. Their funeral prayers were offered yesterday.”

The journalist remained stunned after Abbasi’s revelation and asked whether the families received the dead bodies, Abbasi replied: “Yes, they received the bodies as their funerals were offered. Look, it’s really strange that the government had to fire bullets at night when the area was in complete darkness. Were they attacked? They cannot justify open firing at the protestors in the federal capital, no less.”

“I could even understand security forces firing at some violent protestors in the daytime. Even that is unjust and unacceptable. For the sake of an argument, I could understand that in the daytime, maybe a violent protestor attacked a security official and they killed that protestor. But they fired the bullets in complete darkness, what was the motive behind this policy? They had shut down electricity in the area deliberately,” remarked Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.

“After killing the people, the government is doubling down and beating its chest that no one apart from the security officials has been killed. One day, they will have to accept what they’ve done,” said the former PML-N leader.

It is worth mentioning that during the PTI’s tenure, corruption cases were lodged against then PML-N leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in the Pakistan-Qatar LNG deal of 2015. 

In 2024, NAB withdrew the cases against Abbasi and Miftah Ismail. Abbasi spent 138 days in jail before the first formal charge was brought against him. Miftah Ismail was in jail for 118 days when the first interim charge sheet was filed against all the accused.