ISLAMABAD: In its latest attempt to suppress the PTI, the federal government on Monday announced that it has decided to ban the party and seek Article 6 proceedings against its founder Imran Khan, ex-president Dr Arif Alvi, and former National Assembly (NA) deputy speaker Qasim Suri.
The move appears to be an attempt to prevent the PTI from becoming the single largest party in the NA.
The announcement was made on the heels of relief given to the party by the top court in the reserved seats case as well as to the party chief in the Iddat case.
It has yet to be determined what impact the planned ban would have on the top court’s decision on reserved seats as well as the PTI-affiliated lawmakers.
Speaking during a press conference in Islamabad, Information Minister Atta Tarar said that if the country is to move in a forward direction, it cannot do so with PTI’s existence.
“In view of the foreign funding case, May 9 riots, and the cipher episode as well as the resolution passed in the US, we believe that there is very credible evidence present to have the PTI banned,” he said.
“We are going to impose a ban on PTI and we believe that Article 17 of the Constitution gives the government the right to ban political parties, and this matter will be referred to the Supreme Court.”
Article 17 (2) of the Constitution states that “every citizen, not being in the service of Pakistan, shall have the right to form or be a member of a political party, subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interest of the sovereignty or integrity of Pakistan.”
The information minister added that whether it was the foreign funding case, the May 9 riots or the manipulation of the cipher saga, the party prioritised its own interests.
In terms of the cipher episode, Tarar said the former Pakistani ambassador to the US, Asad Majeed — who authored the cipher — clarified that there was “no threat”, but the PTI continued decrying that the country was in danger.
“You tried to damage the country’s diplomatic relations for the sake of your political interests and went on to get a resolution passed against Pakistan in the US,” he said.
‘Article 6 reference to be moved against Arif Alvi, Imran Khan, and Qasim Suri’
To further tighten the noose around the PTI, Tarar said that the government had decided to file a reference against Alvi, Khan, and Qasim Suri, under Article 6 of the Constitution — which corresponds to high treason — for dissolving the assemblies in April 2022 despite a motion of no-confidence being moved against Khan in the Parliament.
“The reference, under Article 6, will be sent to the Supreme Court after being approved by the cabinet,” he announced.
Govt to file review petition against SC’s reserved seats verdict
The information minister said that the government would also submit a review petition to the apex court against its last week’s verdict which declared that the PTI would be eligible for reserved seats for women and minorities.
The top court had given its verdict in PTI’s favour following the closure of hearing on a set of appeals moved by the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) against the denial of reserved seats for women and non-Muslims to it by the Peshawar High Court (PHC) and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
PTI-backed candidates, who had contested and won the February 8 elections as independents after their party was stripped of its election symbol, had joined the SIC to form a coalition of convenience.
The top court on July 12 annulled the decision of the PHC while also declaring the decision of the election regulator null and void, terming it against the Constitution.
Tarar said that regarding the apex court’s verdict, an impression was created that the party was given relief without asking for it.
“However, Tehreek-i-Insaf was not a party in the case, the members [in question] did not claim to be PTI candidates, and all of them submitted SIC affidavits and joined the party”, he said, adding that according to the manifesto of the SIC, a non-Muslim could not become a member of the party which is why the party could not get minorities’ seats.
“The [SIC] MNAs never expressed their desire to join the PTI before the Supreme Court, therefore, given the legal inaccuracy in this decision, the ruling governmental party and its allies have decided to submit a review petition against the Supreme Court’s verdict,” Tarar said.
The government later submitted a review petition to the apex court calling for the verdict in the case of the reserved seats to be recalled and its operation suspended.
Reproducing the court’s declaration that the PTI was indeed a political party, the petition said: “These findings are even beyond the pleadings of the Parties. The issue of granting the reserved seats to PTI was not even in the pleadings of SIC and hence the same cannot be granted. It is a cardinal and well settled principle in our jurisprudence that ‘parties are bound by their pleadings’. In the instant case, neither SIC sought this relief, nor pleaded for the same.”
Reacting to the petition while assailing Tarar’s announcement in a press release, PTI leaders said the plea would fail and achieve nothing.
Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said all 41 PTI lawmakers had submitted their affidavits about their identification with the party.
