17th Amend be revoked in phases: Shujaat

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Muslim League-Q President Ch Shujaat Hussain Friday said that the controversial 17th Amendment should be abolished in phases. He said this while talking to TheNation on Friday. In the first phase, all such clauses on which all political parties have consensus may be repealed and the remaining clauses could be abolished at a later stage, he said. Ch Shujaat also said that his party had reservations over some of the clauses of the Charter of Democracy (CoD). As all the parties having representation in the Parliament are not signatories to the CoD, therefore, PPP and PML-N should take them on board first prior to introducing constitutional amendments package, Shujaat added. He said that his partys lawmakers, including Senators Wasim Sajjad, SM Zafar and others would provide maximum input, according to the aspiration of the people of the country, in the special parliamentary committee on constitutional reforms. Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said that Prime Minister Gilani must resolve Balochistan issue without any delay. He also lauded Prime Minister for hailing the performance of the previous governments Mushahid Hussain committee. The Prime Minister had said that his government would take help from the said committees report for resolving Balochistan crisis. We want fruitful and positive outcomes about Balochistan and the issue must be resolved through political means, he pointed. Responding to another question, President PML-Q Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said that Local Government System was a good system and PML-Q would strongly oppose its abolition. Commenting on the Supreme Courts verdict in Nawaz Sharif Plan Hijacking Case, he termed that the court decision 'a turning point in the politics of the country, and noted that the politics of vendetta must end now. A decision of the court has set aside the previous decision of the court and now no one can say that he is being victimised politically, he observed.