ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Friday said the constitution is under threat from the very institutions which are expected to safeguard it.
Speaking at a presser, Shibli Faraz, who is also the opposition leader in Senate, along with newly-appointed secretary information Sheikh Waqas Akram, said that it is tragic that there is no rule of law in the country and certain quarters are making efforts to violate the constitution.
He regretted that Toshakhana case is being registered against PTI founding chairman Imran Khan for the fourth time – the first of its kind in history of the country – which shows law of jungle prevails in the country.
Despite all-out efforts to penalise Imran Khan by hidden quarters, he added, the ex-prime minister remains resilient both mentally and physically.
He expressed optimism that any potential sentence would likely be overturned by the court as people have pinned high hopes on the independent judiciary.
Faraz also expressed apprehension about the detention of Bushra Bibi, saying an apolitical lady is being unlawfully imprisoned to exert pressure on PTI leadership.
“What to talk of a common man when influential people like Bushra Bibi fail to get justice for the sins they never committed,” he lamented.
He said that under the garb of a constitutional package, the country’s political, legal and constitutional frameworks are being manipulated to protect handful elite.
He condemned the proposed constitutional amendments, terming it “satanic amendments” aimed at manipulating the electoral process and maintaining power for the ruling elite.
“The independent judiciary is not the demand of the PTI only as it’s the demand and the need of the entire nation. I would like to urge the lawyers’ community to rise to the occasion for the protection of the judiciary,” he maintained.
To a question, he said that not a single PTI senator or MNA is in contact with the government, adding all the lawmakers belonging to PTI are united and will resist the so-called constitutional package.
Sheikh Waqas Akram echoed Faraz’s concerns, accusing the incumbent government of introducing constitutional amendments solely to undermine Imran Khan and the PTI.
“These amendments are aimed at further weakening PTI, but we will resist these changes tooth nail as they have nothing to do with the common man except facilitating handful opportunist mafias,” he declared.
He reiterated that the sole purpose of bringing the amendment is to ban the PTI, adding those who had only bagged 16 seats do not have the right to make any amendment.
He demanded Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja to call it a day along with other four members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) before it is too late.
“The CEC and the [ECP] members must go home as they’ve destroyed the whole institution by getting dictations from somewhere else,” he lamented.
He said that the PTI has the full backing of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazal as its chief Maulana Fazl ur Rehman had categorically said his party would not support the so-called constitutional package.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024