Balakh Sher Mazari - Mir Balakh Sher Mazari...Caretaker Prime Minister

Mir Balakh Sher Mazari...Caretaker Prime Minister

On April 18, 1993, the power struggle seemed to be resolved when President Ishaq Khan, exercising the extraordinary constitutional powers afforded the president by the Eighth Amendment, dismissed the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. For the second time, Ghulam Ishaq Khan had invoked the Eighth Amendment to bring down an elected government. The charges of corruption and mismanagement of the economy that he levelled against Nawaz Sharif were almost identical to those he had earlier brought against Benazir Bhutto in 1990. President Ishaq Khan appointed Balakh Sher Mazari as Care Taker Prime Minister for 90 days, a mandatory period to set up a framework for next elections.

In His short lived career as PM his Foreign Policy remained his strong point and probably the only efficient act on his part as Prime Minister was to attend the OIC.

Concerning the struggle of the people of Jammu and Kashmir the Prime Minister stated that they had been denied their right to self-determination, and called on the OIC to adopt resolute steps to condemn Indian atrocities and violations of human rights in Jammu and Kashmir, and to condemn its continued occupation of that territory. He pointed out that the unending repression had failed to break the will of the Kashmiri people for liberation from India's illegal occupation.

On the question of Palestine, Mr. Mazari stated that Israel must fully implement resolutions 242 and 338 of the U.N. Security Council and that all the Palestinian people be allowed to return to their homeland.

On the genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Mr. Mazari stated that Pakistan had sponsored a Security Council resolution imposing additional sanctions on Serbia. He sincerely hoped that the Conference would respond generously to Bosnia-Herzegovina's needs.

Mr. Mazari also called on the OIC to condemn strongly Armenia's attack on Azerbaijan and called for the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Azerbaijan and the region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

On the issue of Cyprus, the Prime Minister stated that Pakistan supported a bizonal and bicommunal federal structure based on the equality of the Turkish and Greek communities.

Mr. Mazari also called on the Islamic world to support the people of Afghanistan in this period of political transition.

On the issue of terrorism, Mr. Mazari stated that Pakistan is committed to combating international terrorism, and called on the OIC to condemn strongly all forms of terrorism.

The Prime Minister of Pakistan also called on the OIC to protect the rights and welfare of Muslim minorities. He also stated that many OIC states have a stake in combatting racism and xenophobia in Europe, that is affecting Muslims living there.

On May 26, 1993, the Supreme Court voted that Ishaq Khan's dissolution of the National Assembly and his dismissal of the prime minister were unconstitutional. The Supreme Court's action was a sharp rebuke of Ishaq Khan's heavy-handed exercise of presidential powers and was widely hailed as a victory for the advocates of democratization. Yet, although the Supreme Court was able to reinstate the Nawaz Sharif government, the status quo ante was not restored, and the struggle between the president and the prime minister continued unabated, making the pursuit of regular government workings impossible.