No one, including the Supreme Court, would ever accept the decision of proscribing the PTI: Senator Ali Zafar
ISLAMABAD, July 15 (SABAH): In a stinging rejoinder to Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar’s announcement of the government’s decision of banning the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, senior PTI leader Senator Barrister Syed Ali Zafar said no one, including the Supreme Court, would ever accept the decision of proscribing the PTI.
Speaking to a private TV channel, Barrister Syed Ali Zafar said the apex court should immediately take notice of the political victimisation, adding that he was surprised at the verdict of the SC of granting reserved seats to the PTI instead of the Sunni-Ittehad Council (SIC) which, he said, was contrary to his expectations.
He further said no one would be able to do politics sans Imran Khan, insisting that the PTI founder had ruled out the possibility of forming the government by going into coalition with anyone including Jamilat Ulema-i-Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman.
“Imran Khan only wants one thing, either return his complete mandate or conduct fresh elections,” he added.
Speaking about Imran Khan’s release from jail, Senator Barrister Syed Ali Zafar said the PTI founder was days away from coming out of jail, adding that a review petition was a constitutional right of the government but this decision didn’t seem to be overturned.
He warned the government against flouting the clause 17 of the constitution by imposing a ban on the PTI, adding that he didn’t have anything but to deplore on the decision of the government.
He also called for the chief election commissioner’s resignation for not giving fair share of the reserved seats to the PTI.
He said that the federal government was attempting to ban the party “out of desperation” as the Supreme Court had ruled in its favour in the reserved seats case. Senator Syed Ali Zafar said his party would not allow the decision’s implementation “even for a second” as it is against the law of the land.
“As far as their announcement of banning PTI is concerned, I believe that they live in a world which exists outside the law. There’s no provision in the law that allows the government to resort to such a move.”
The senator further said: “This statement itself disqualifies him [Tarar], and even if they think about such an impossible thing, then the courts are present and so are we. We will not allow such a decision to be implemented even for a second.”
Taking a jibe at the information minister, Syed Ali Zafar said he thinks the minister spoke out of “desperation” after the reserved seat’s judgment. “This is an illegal decision.”
Replying in his characteristic style, PTI leader Salman Akram Raja said his party would deal with the government at all levels, be it public or in courts, emphasising that they won’t become a party in the government’s efforts to hide its fraud.
“It is foolish to say that the PTI is working against the sovereignty of Pakistan. The government just wants to stifle democracy in Pakistan. We haven’t thought they would stoop to this extent,” he lamented.
He further said the PTI never denied dialogue, adding that his party was sitting inside parliament and was member of the parliamentary committees.
“I can’t say anything about backdoor channels as the government has stooped to this low on the front door,” he remarked.