JUI-F president Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Jamaat-Islami Emir Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman, Awam Pakistan Party convenor Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Awami National Party (ANP) leader Mian Iftikhar Hussain and HRCP have condemned the government decision to ban the PTI.
They termed the decision against democratic norms and a step to aggravate the situation.
Shahid Khaqan Abbassi said banning the political parties never happened during the political government’s history. He said the government was doing this to save its position and seats, but it would not work anymore as the issues could only be resolved through talks. The government should resolve issues through talks with the PTI, he added said Article 6 cannot be invoked against the PTI’s leadership, and if it does then it should be invoked against others as well.
Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman in a statement said, “The decision of Farm 47’s government to ban PTI was fascism.â€
He said in democratic societies there was no space for such decisions particularly when this country has a constitution and courts. Only with dictatorial thoughts and policies could make such decisions, he said.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has also condemned the government’s decision calling it against the democratic norms.
MQM reaction:
MQM-Pakistan, the government ally, said the government has not taken them into confidence on the decision.
PTI reaction:
The PTI has also strongly reacted to the government’s decision stating whatever the government does, the PTI cannot be finished.
The PTI leaders expressed a commitment to fight a political war with the government in courts and the public.
This reaction came after the Federal Minister for Information Atta Ullah Tarar in a news conference today disclosed the government is banning the PTI and launching a case under Article 6 of the Constitution against former president Arif Alvi, former premier Imran Khan and ex-deputy speaker of the national assembly Qassim Suri.
Former Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser said the government had played all tactics to curb PTI but failed, and now in this decision, it will fail again.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur said, “How a party coming into power after stealing the public’s mandate could ban the party like PTI. This government stands on the crutches of Farm 47 and is not in a position to ban the PTI. We will see it when it does so.†Barrister Zafar said, “The government’s decision was a fascist approach and it was doing so after it was defeated in the Supreme Court. we will not let the government succeed both in the courts and among the public.â€
It is important to note that the federal government came up with this decision after the top courts provided relief to the PTI’s founder in cases like Toshakhana, Iddat, Al Qadir University, and the Cipher cases. The last blow for the government was on Friday when the Supreme Court decided the case of the reserved seats in favor of the PTI with remarks that PTI was a political party and will remain one. The government has now filed a review petition against this decision. (By Rana Kashif)
