Marriyum criticises verdict

Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, Marriyum Aurangzeb harshly criticized the Supreme Court's judgment on Friday that disqualified Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Secretary General Jahangir Tareen and dismissed plea against Chairman PTI Imran Khan in disqualification case. In her reaction to the judgment of the Supreme Court, she said that same standard has not been maintained in this case which was maintained in the Panama Papers case.
Talking to the media persons, she said not only leadership of Pakistan but of the entire party will be disqualified by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in the foreign funding case. The minister of state said that the PML-N has the constitutional right to express reservations on these judgements.
"Nawaz Sharif, during his GT Road rally, had also said that one law cannot have two sides," she remarked. She added that on one hand Nawaz Sharif was disqualified on the basis of holding an Iqama and receivable income which he did not withdraw, while on the other hand, existence of an offshore company and foreign funding were said to have no bearing on the case.
Marriyum Aurangzeb also alleged that Imran and PTI receive funds from Jews and Hindus and that money is used to conduct sit-ins and slow the progress in the country. Meanwhile, on another occasion, she said that democratic continuity boosts performance and prestige of institutions. Speaking to the participants of the 4th National Management Development Course at Pakistan Institute of Parliamentary Services, she regretted that democratic continuity is disrupted repeatedly in the country.
She said, "The people derive strength from the Parliament and therefore, it is our responsibility to work for strengthening of the parliament." Aurangzeb said everyone should have access to the Parliament. She lauded the services being rendered by NGOs in the fields of education and health and other social sectors. The state minister expressed confidence that such courses for provincial legislators would help increase interaction and understanding between the Parliament and provincial assemblies and expressed her desire that similar courses should also be devised for media persons to give them better understanding of working of the Parliament and role of parliamentarians.