By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Former Prime Minister Imran Khan threatened street protests on Monday if the government fails to accept a Supreme Court ruling on reserved seats and extends the Chief Justice’s tenure.
“If the government does not accept the decision on reserved seats and tries to give an extension to the Chief Justice, we will start a street movement,” Khan said in a tweet from Adiala Jail, where he has been held since his arrest on corruption charges last year.
Khan accused the government of violating the constitution and attempting to block the Supreme Court’s decision. “They have amended the Election Act to block the Supreme Court’s decision, and now they want to secretly obtain a two-thirds majority to amend the Constitution as well. They are not giving us the reserved seats,” he said.
The Supreme Court ruled on July 12 that Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was eligible for seats reserved for women and minorities, dealing a significant blow to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s ruling coalition.
The PTI was stripped of its election symbol, the cricket bat, just ahead of the February 8 polls on technical grounds that it did not hold intra-party elections, a prerequisite for any party to participate in polls. Despite this, PTI-backed candidates won the most seats in the general elections as independents.
However, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) later ruled that they were ineligible for the 70 reserved seats for women and minorities allocated to political parties only. The PTI-backed candidates then joined the Sunni Ittehad Council party to claim a share of the reserved seats, but the election authorities again denied them the seats, citing a failure to submit the list of potential candidates on time.
After the top court ruling, the coalition government approved a law in parliament that aimed at preventing independent lawmakers from joining political parties after a stipulated period.
Khan said, “They are violating the Constitution by not holding elections in two provinces, and now they are violating it again by not implementing the Supreme Court’s decision. They are not accepting the Supreme Court’s decision because they need a two-thirds majority to keep Qazi Faez Isa in place.” “The Chief Justice and the Election Commission were in cahoots, and the Army Chief supported them, but their entire plan failed on February 8th.”
Khan also accused the government of destroying the economy. “These people have destroyed the economy and are now attacking the Supreme Court. The nation is waiting, the situation is simmering,” he warned.
Comparing the situation in Pakistan to that of Bangladesh, Khan said, “Even in Bangladesh, the army refused to fire on its own people. The situation in Bangladesh and Pakistan is not different.”
“I am about to give a call, the people are ready, the fear has been shattered, and people are now ready to go to jail and sacrifice their lives. If you break the Constitution in Pakistan, the future of the youth is in danger.”
Regarding the May 9 violence, the former prime minister said, “They themselves set the fire on May 9th. The ISI has hidden the footage so that the real culprits don’t come to light.”
Violent protests broke out last year on May 9, after Khan was briefly arrested in a land fraud case. His supporters clashed with the police and Rangers, set fire to vehicles and public property, and attempted to storm the headquarters of the military and the Inter-Services Intelligence, the country’s powerful spy agency. They also attacked the residence of a top general in Lahore. Thousands of PTI supporters, including its senior leaders, have been arrested.
The violence was condemned by the military as a “dark chapter” in the country’s history. The military has since vowed to bring to justice all those involved in the violence.
“General Asim Munir (army chief) should consider what decisions the nation is making, where it stands, and where the military leadership stands. Never before has there been such a distance between the military and the people. They have put the country’s largest party at odds with the army.”
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