ISLAMABAD: Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal, on Monday, while demanding the formation of a full bench of the Supreme Court, said Pakistan’s current economic situation could not afford political instability anymore.

While addressing the media outside the Supreme Court, he urged the court to accept the demand for the formation of a full bench to hear the case of Punjab chief minister election.

The minister said the government had taken difficult decisions to take the economy out of crisis and brought stability but if more political crises were created, the efforts would go in vain and the country’s economy would suffer.

He said the dual standards of justice should be stopped against them.

Iqbal said Imran Khan and his party leaders repeatedly gave statements against the institutions and the country’s judiciary but nobody took notice. For seven months, he said, former Chief Minister Punjab Usman Buzdar did not act upon the Court’s order but no one was there to send him any notice.

“With due respect, we are asking why the country’s laws apply only to us and not to Imran Khan and his party,” he said, adding, “we do not want the judiciary to become a party with the political disputes of the country”.

The minister further stressed that the whole nation is demanding that a full court bench should be formed to hear the case to avoid any new dispute.

“We want to see judiciary strong and we want to save the judiciary’s honour,” he said, adding that Imran Khan was out to sabotage the judiciary’s honour only for his political gains.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022