Bilawal condemns imposition of KP Actions ordinance

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan People’s Party chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari yesterday condemned the imposition and enactment of Khyber Pukhtunkhaw Actions (in Aid of Civil Power) Ordinance, 2019 in the province.  The Ordinance gives unlimited powers of arrest and detention to the armed forces and was previously imposed in the FATA and PATA when militancy was its peak. “After the merger of FATA with KP, one would have thought that the legacy of colonial era’s draconian laws was over but this regressive step has once again shown that clearly the mindset hasn’t changed,” Bilawal said.  “On the one hand the government claims that it has curbed militancy and law and order is now under control but on the other takes steps which belie its own claims,” he added.  Labelling this move “as two steps backward,” he vowed to continue with his struggle for the supremacy of constitution and a rights-based society in Pakistan. “Instead of merging FATA into KP, they have turned all of KP into FATA,” he said. Bilawal said “we have seen the misuse of such arbitrary powers in the past. “This Ordinance also violates the judgements of superior courts and thus undermines the role of the judiciary.” The PPP Chairman also instructed the provincial chapter of PPP to requisition the KP assembly session in consultation with other opposition parties to debate this issue.

 

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