‘Ridiculous and desperate’: Lawyers, journalists, politicians react to govt’s decision to ban PTI
Days after it was granted relief from the apex court, the government on Monday announced plans to ban the PTI — a move that has been termed as “desperate” and “unsustainable” by experts.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad today, Information Minister Atta Tarar said the country could not move forward with the Imran Khan-led party’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.
“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,” he said.
Article 17
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 and such law shall provide that where the Federal Government declares that any political party has been formed or is operating in a manner prejudicial to the sovereignty or integrity of Pakistan, the Federal Government shall, within fifteen days of such declaration, refer the matter to the Supreme Court whose decision on such reference shall be final.
Tarar added that the government had further decided to file a reference against Imran, former president Arif Alvi and former National Assembly deputy speaker Qasim Suri under Article 6 of the Constitution — which corresponds to high treason — for dissolving assemblies in April 2022 despite a motion of no-confidence being moved against the PTI chief in Parliament.
The decision comes on the heels of two major developments in the PTI’s favour: the Supreme Court’s decision to declare the party eligible for reserved seats and the overturning of Imran’s conviction in the Iddat case.
In the aftermath of the top court’s judgement, the PTI is set to emerge as the single largest party in the National Assembly.
Here’s what lawyers, politicians and journalists had to say about the government’s latest move:
‘Destroying democracy’
Barrister Asad Rahim remarked that banning a country’s largest political party was akin to banning the will of its people. “There can be no starker illustration of a regime without a mandate than this wild and desperate move,” he told Dawn.com.
“Days after Pakistan’s elected representatives were returned their rightful strength in the assembly — that too when not counting for mass rigging — the unelected centre has hit the panic button.
“An act like this will destroy what’s left of democracy, just as it did when the Bhutto regime moved to dissolve the NAP [National Awami Party] — the largest party in two of four provinces. The current iteration is even more ridiculous, given that the PTI has won the most seats in the general election,” the lawyer highlighted.
He added that the government’s decision was a “fraud on the Constitution”, “betrayal of the parliamentary system” and “an insult to the popular will”.
‘Ridiculous and desperate’
Speaking to Dawn.com, lawyer and politician Moiz Jaferii said a political party could not be banned other than through a reference to the apex court.
“The declaration by a federal government sending such a recommendation to the SC must explain how the particular party concerned is operating in a manner prejudicial to the sovereignty or integrity of Pakistan. This must be done within 15 days and the SC then gets to decide whether this is in fact the case,” he explained.
Jaferii remarked that a party could not just be banned, terming the government’s move “ridiculous and desperate posturing by a regime exposed day by day for its lack of legitimacy and popular appeal”.
“If the party is banned, anyone appearing on its ticket would lose the right to represent members in Parliament and be disqualified under Section 213 of the Election Act 2017,” he added.
Lawyer Mirza Moiz Baig also said that Article 17 of the Constitution provided that the government may declare a political party to be working against the integrity or sovereignty of Pakistan.
“Nonetheless, in the event that the government makes such a declaration, it is obliged to refer a reference to the SC within 15 days of such declaration,” he said, adding that the SC’s decision in this respect was final and binding.
Section 212 of the Elections Act also supports this view, Baig pointed out.
“While Section 213 of the Elections Act provides that the parliamentarians of a banned political party shall be disqualified for the remaining term of the assembly, Section 213 would only trigger after the SC upholds the government’s declaration,” he added.
Lawyer Jibran Nasir said that the pursuit of seeking a ban on the PTI “not only shows how weak the PML-N is but how desperate and frustrated the establishment has become”.
“Neither the establishment could fool the voters to support the PML-N over PTI with propaganda nor could it terrorise its core members and workers to leave PTI through raids, arrests, abductions and torture,” he wrote in a post on X.
‘Rubbish and unsustainable’
Mushahid Hussain Sayed, a former senator and head of the Pakistan-China Institute and Pakistan-Africa Institute for Development & Research, said no lessons were learnt from history as old mistakes were being repeated.
He said the above meant: “Goodbye to political stability, goodbye to investment, goodbye to economic revival!”
In a post on X, human rights activist and former PPP senator Farhatullah Babar said the talk of banning a political party or trial of a political leader for treason was “rubbish” and “unsustainable”.
“US democracy will sustain its current crisis. Pakistani democracy, indeed state itself, is unlikely to sustain [the] self-imposed crisis. Be warned,” he said.
Former PPP senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar remarked that the government was under pressure, adding that the move to ban the PTI was akin to following the “legacy of dictators”.
“Insulting the public’s mandate should now stop,” he demanded.
‘Grave mistake’
Journalist Zarrar Khuhro remarked that “as with each and every move this too will backfire spectacularly”.
“Oh the combination of fear, desperation and an absolute lack of any brains at all. Brought to you by the same brilliant minds who thought the Iddat case and having Maneka count menstrual cycles on TV was a sure shot winning idea,” he said on X.
On the other hand, senior journalist Mubashir Zaidi warned that banning the PTI would be a “grave mistake”.
Meanwhile, journalist Moizur Rehman said today’s announcement by the government had “no legal basis or standing”.
“The Supreme Court will not entertain such ridiculous cases,” he said in a post on X, adding that this episode would give the ruling party an opportunity to increase their confrontation with the SC in order to “play the victim card”.
In a post on X, Journalist Hamid Mir said the country’s history showed that a political party’s leadership could not be eliminated by banning it. “This is a lesson from the past that the PPP has learned … the PML-N is yet to understand it,” he added.
Separately, in an interview with Geo News, he said the government’s move was not unexpected, recalling that talks regarding the ban on PTI had surfaced following the May 9 riots.
“But it seems like the government thought filing a reference at that time would be a wrong move given that Arif Alvi was the president and would have the option of not sending the reference forward. They now decided to go forward with the reference because Alvi has gone back to being a part of the PTI,” he pointed out.