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In its latest attempt to suppress the PTI, the federal government on Monday announced that it has decided to ban the party.
The move appears to be an attempt to prevent incarcerated former prime minister Imran Khan’s party from becoming the single largest party in the National Assembly.
The announcement was made on the heels of relief given to the PTI by the top court in the reserved seats case as well as to the party chief in the Iddat case.
It has yet to be determined what impact the planned ban would have on the top court’s decision on reserved seats as well as the PTI-affiliated lawmakers.
Speaking during a press conference in Islamabad, Information Minister Atta Tarar said that if the country is to move in a forward direction, it cannot do so with PTI’s existence.
“In view of the foreign funding case, May 9 riots, and the cipher episode as well as the resolution passed in the US, we believe that there is very credible evidence present to have the PTI banned,” he said.
“We are going to impose a ban on PTI and we believe that Article 17 of the Constitution gives the government the right to ban political parties, and this matter will be referred to the Supreme Court.”
Article 17 (2) of the Constitution states that “every citizen, not being in the service of Pakistan, shall have the right to form or be a member of a political party, subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interest of the sovereignty or integrity of Pakistan.”
It further adds that “such law shall provide that where the Federal Government declares that any political party has been formed or is operating in a manner prejudicial to the sovereignty or integrity of Pakistan, the Federal Government shall, within fifteen days of such declaration, refer the matter to the Supreme Court whose decision on such reference shall be final.”
The information minister added that whether it was the foreign funding case, the riots of May 9, or the manipulation of the cipher saga, in which the former Pakistani ambassador to the US, Asad Majeed — who authored the cipher — clarified that there was “no threat”, the PTI continued decrying that the country was in danger.
“You tried to damage the country’s diplomatic relations for the sake of your political interests and went on to get a resolution passed against Pakistan in the US,” he said.
Govt to file review petition against SC’s reserved seats verdict
The information minister said that the government would also submit a review petition before the Supreme Court of Pakistan against its verdict last week which declared that PTI would be eligible for reserved seats for women and minorities.
He said that regarding the apex court’s verdict, an impression was created that the party was given relief without asking for it.
“However, Tehreek-i-Insaf was not a party in the case, the members [in question] did not claim to be PTI candidates, and all of them submitted Sunni Ittehad Council’s (SIC) affidavits and joined the party”, he said, adding that according to the manifesto of the SIC, a non-Muslim could not become a member of the party which is why the party could not get minorities’ seats.
“The [SIC] MNAs never expressed their desire to join the PTI before the Supreme Court, therefore, given the legal inaccuracy in this decision, the ruling governmental party and its allies have decided to submit a review petition against the Supreme Court’s verdict,” Tarar said.
‘Article 6 reference to be moved against Arif Alvi, Imran Khan, and Qasim Suri’
To further tighten the noose around the PTI, Tarar said that the government had decided to file a reference against former president Arif Alvi, Imran Khan, and the ex-deputy speaker of the National Assembly, Qasim Suri, under Article 6 of the Constitution, which corresponds to high treason for dissolving the assemblies in April 2022 despite a motion of no-confidence being moved against Khan in the parliament.
“The government has decided to move Article 6 of the Constitution against the then-president Arif Alvi, Imran Niazi, and the then-deputy speaker Qasim Suri,” he said.
“The reference, under Article 6, will be sent to the Supreme Court after being approved by the cabinet,” he announced.
Article 6 of the Constitution says: “Any person who abrogates or subverts or suspends or hold in abeyance, or attempts or conspires to abrogate or subvert or suspend or hold in abeyance the Constitution by use of force or show force or by any other unconstitutional means shall be guilty of high treason.”
‘Ban will uproot foundations of Pakistan’: PTI
In response to the government’s move, the PTI said that the government’s decision to impose a ban on the party could “uproot the foundations of the country”.
“No patriot can think of banning the largest and most popular party of the Pakistani country, doing so is tantamount to uprooting the foundations of Pakistan and sending the country towards civil war,” the party wrote on the X platform.
More to follow.
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