US Congressman Brad Sherman has asserted that an elected Prime Minister should complete their term. He also urged free and fair elections in Pakistan where the votes are calculated accurately, leading to the formation of a government that has complete control over governance.
Congressman Brad Sherman is currently serving his thirteenth term in the US House of Representatives. He is a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the House Financial Services Committee, and a member of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee.
He recently attended a meeting with Overseas Pakistanis’ senior leadership including Sajjad Burki, Atif Khan, Akbar Chaudhry, and Imran Igra in California, and may also visit Pakistan soon. While talking about Pakistan’s recent political developments, Congressman Brad Sherman dispelled the impression that the US was supporting non-democratic forces.
To clarify, PTI Chairman and former Prime Minister Imran Khan has consistently claimed that his forceful ouster was a result of a US conspiracy against his “democratically elected” government. In this regard, Congressman Brad Sherman asserted US dedication to democracy.
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“Pakistan has been independent for 75 years and no elected Prime Minister has yet completed its constitutional tenure in his office,” Congressman Brad Sherman noted.
This is indeed true as no prime minister has completed a full five-year tenure in Pakistan’s 75-year history. On 18 occasions, prime ministers have been removed under a variety of circumstances, including corruption charges, direct military coups, and forced resignations due to infighting in governing groups. There was one assassination (Shaheed Benazir Bhutto).
Good to hear that Brad Sherman will be visiting Pakistan soon. Better relations between US and Pakistan very important to remove differences and misunderstandings. Meeting with Brad Sherman took place in Washington on 7th September pic.twitter.com/WXNML2VteI
— Najma Minhas (@MinhasNajma) September 8, 2022
“We are looking forward to the day that the people of Pakistan get free and fair information, are able to cast their votes, have those votes accurately calculated, have the parliament meet and establish a Prime Minister who continues to serve to the end of their legal term without any military interference,” Congressman Brad Sherman said.
“In the past, we have seen that Prime Ministers elected to the office under constitutional process were forced out office under unconstitutional means. We don’t want to see that in the next 75 years,” he added.
Media should be free
With regard to the current media situation in Pakistan, the Congressman pointed out that media houses’ licenses should not be revoked for political reasons.
To clarify, Pakistan has recently witnessed a sharp increase in media crackdowns by the incumbent government. News channels were taken off the air and prominent journalists were arrested and tortured.
Read more: Journalists condemn arrest of TV anchor Jameel Farooqui
The Congressman further said the United States usually goes along with the democracies with occasional difficulties but is always dedicated to the concept of democracy where the press is fair.
“People should not be arrested or tortured for expressing political opinions and TV stations should not have their licenses revoked for political reasons,” Congressman Brad said.
American Congressman @BradSherman member of the @HouseForeign Affairs Committee spoke against the illegal abduction, torture of journalists and revoking licence of media @ARYNEWSOFFICIAL @BOLNewsOfficial for political reasons.
2/3 pic.twitter.com/KebzDP8C9m— Naeem Qurban (@NaeemQurban) September 8, 2022
“I am confident that the people of Pakistan have a bright future and that they will go to the polls sometime in the next nine months and have a government that can lead to prosperity and relations with the United States,” he added.