When the president sent home his own ‘selected’ prime minister

It was a hot day on May 29, 1988, a time of uncertainty, non-party democracy, the experience of Islamic martial law, corrupt politicians, falling standards, fading traditions, decaying administration, because everything was ours. It was in line with ‘national aspirations’.

In a hastily called press conference on the same evening, the military ruler of Pakistan, General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, exercised his powers under Article 58 (2) B of the Constitution to dismiss his own ‘selected’ Prime Minister, Muhammad Khan Junejo. And announced the dissolution of the National Assembly and the Federal Cabinet.

Explaining the reasons for his extreme action, President General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq said that the real purpose of the elections could not be achieved, my conscience was reproaching me because I had conducted the referendum only to speed up the implementation of Islam. During this time, no progress was made in relation to the Islamic system.

“The law and order situation has become worse, people’s lives and property are not safe, the country’s security and unity have been threatened, the democratic process has slowed down. The National Assembly has been broken, it could not fulfill the expectations of the people about both democracy and the implementation of Islam.

President General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq further said that the people will be given the right to re-elect their representatives at the appropriate time. will work to increase.’

The next day on May 30, 1988, President General Zia-ul-Haq addressed the nation on radio and television in support of his decision, saying that Prime Minister Muhammad Khan Junejo had completely succumbed to political pressure, which led to corruption, nepotism and nepotism. And disorder had become common and the law and order situation in the country had completely deteriorated.

Like the entire nation, for some of General Zia-ul-Haq’s friends, the move to send the Prime Minister home was a unique event.

An old friend of General Zia, Vice Chief of Army Staff General (retd) KM Arif wrote about this incident in his book ‘Working with Zia’, ‘Zia had diagnosed a disease which was difficult to accept. So the extreme measures he took in relation to the treatment of this disease were even more difficult to accept. Mr. Junejo was not an ideal prime minister but he took over the Annan government in very difficult circumstances.

Running a democratic system under the umbrella of an authoritarian president was not an easy task. Putting all the corruptions and corruptions found in the country in the cradle of the Prime Minister was against the requirements of justice and against the values ​​of truth and honesty. The President’s move was an act of retaliation.

“Mr. Junejo described it as a complete one-sidedness and claimed that he had introduced dignity, respect and decency in the politics of the country and his claim was not without merit.”

Muhammad Khan Junejo, who received a vote of confidence from the politically disorganized non-party National Assembly after being nominated for the post of Prime Minister, was known as an honest politician and Prime Minister of Pakistan who was free from corruption and nepotism.

He was a figure of simplicity and nobility. Political analysts and researchers cite many reasons for the dismissal of the Junejo government. However, according to us, Muhammad Khan Junejo’s biggest crime was his full democratic thinking and decision-making power, which was the main cause of tension with the military dictator.

For the abolition of martial law, General Zia-ul-Haq had set a condition that the National Assembly should pass the Eighth Constitutional Amendment so that his unconstitutional action could get constitutional and legal protection.

Therefore, for the abolition of martial law, Muhammad Khan Junejo took the bitter sip of getting the Eighth Constitutional Amendment approved by the National Assembly.

But after that, the way he sidelined General Zia-ul-Haq in the matter of national decision-making and brought the country back to the goals of democracy, the supremacy of the constitution and the independence of the parliament, his political ideology, far-reaching thinking and A living example of commitment to democracy.

As Prime Minister, Muhammad Khan Junejo called an All-Parties Conference before the Geneva Accords, defying General Zia-ul-Haq’s instructions.

Benazir Bhutto, Khan Abdul Wali Khan, Rasul Bakhsh Palijo, various Baloch and Pakhtun nationalist leaders participated in this conference which continued for three days at the Prime Minister’s House and openly spoke against General Zia-ul-Haq.

After getting their opinion and support, Prime Minister Muhammad Khan Junejo called it a ‘national consensus’ before which General Zia’s will had no standing.

After the All-Parties Conference, he left for Geneva and signed the Afghan Peace Agreement by including Pakistan’s conditions. This was the supreme example of his tactful diplomacy.

It was possible during the tenure of Prime Minister Muhammad Khan Junejo that Benazir Bhutto returned home in April 1986 after ending eight years of exile.

Mohammad Khan Junejo rejected the instructions of General Ziaul Haque and said that Benazir Bhutto can return to the country whenever she wants, it is her own country where no one can stop her from coming.

Prime Minister Junejo showed his magnanimity and issued instructions to his government to make all arrangements for her to land at Lahore Airport as per her wish. Millions of people came to welcome Ms. and there was no obstacle in this welcome.

On April 10, 1988, the Ojri camp tragedy took place. Rockets rained on the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, killing countless civilians.

Instead of being a silent spectator to this great tragedy, Muhammad Khan Junejo ordered an investigation to determine the motives and those responsible for the incident. This action of his was unacceptable to General Zia-ul-Haq, who was surprised that without his will and intention Muhammad Khan Junejo had the courage to order an inquiry into a sensitive matter.

General Zia appeared to block the way of this investigation by dismissing Muhammad Khan Junejo’s government on May 29, 1988, using the powers granted under the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution, 49 days after the Ojri camp tragedy. did it

Some political researchers attribute the reason for Muhammad Khan Junejo’s dismissal to a small car. Prime Minister Muhammad Khan Junejo, while addressing the country’s parliament, Majlis Shura, announced that high-ranking officials would no longer use flashy cars and preference would be given to smaller cars made in Pakistan, mostly Suzuki FX at that time. .

It may also be of interest to the readers of Independent Urdu that during the dismissal of his government, Prime Minister Muhammad Khan Junejo was also performing organizational duties as the President of the Pakistan Muslim League and in this capacity he A few days ago, he organized the All-Pakistan Convention of Pakistan Muslim League in Islamabad.

More than two hundred members participated in the convention, on this occasion the President of Pakistan Muslim League Punjab, Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, was also present. In those days, he had established close relations with President General Zia-ul-Haq through General Jilani. Prime Minister Muhammad Khan Junejo had become unbearable for President General Muhammad Ziaul Haq due to democratic measures.

When the election process started in the convention, Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and a group of his 27 colleagues created a commotion, these people walked out shouting slogans against the leadership of Muhammad Khan Junejo. Divided into Junejo group and Nawaz group.

Pakistan Muslim League (N) had 27 members on the first day, Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif was appointed as the caretaker chief minister on May 30, 1988 after the dismissal of Punjab Chief Minister and Prime Minister Muhammad Khan Junejo. Almost all the members of the Pakistan Muslim League (Junijo) joined the Nawaz League.