The federal government’s announcement to ban the main opposition party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) hasn’t bode well with its key ally Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), which has distanced itself from the arguably controversial move.
PPP’s Information Secretary Shazia Atta Marri has said the Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s party, a key ally of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) led government in the centre, wasn’t consulted on the move to ban the Imran Khan founded party.
Marri’s remarks come against backdrop of the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government’s announcement to ban the former ruling party for its alleged involvement in the May 9 events and the PTI’s former or current leaders’ attempts to sabotage Pakistan’s deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The decision was revealed by Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, who while addressing a press conference a day earlier, said that the PTI and Pakistan “cannot co-exist” and the matter to ban the party would go to the federal cabinet and the Supreme Court.
The minister also said that the government would further file treason cases against the then-prime minister Khan, the then National Assembly deputy speaker Qasim Suri and former president Arif Alvi — owing to their roles in cipher case, dismissal of the no-confidence motion and the subsequent dissolution of the lower house.
The move drew a strong reaction from the PTI which in return has also demanded invoking Article 6 of the Constitution against those who undertook the unconstitutional steps despite the fact that there is a Constitution in the country.
The party has called on allies of the ruling coalition government, including the PPP and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) to clarify their position on the said issue.
Elaborating on the PPP’s stance, Marri said that the party would hold consultations on the government’s decision to ban the PTI.
Meanwhile, Sindh Planning & Development, and Energy Minister Nasir Hussain Shah has said that the PPP “is not in the favour of banning any political party”.
“We were not consulted,” he said.
Meanwhile, speaking at Geo News‘ programme “Geo Pakistan,” PPP’s Senator Sherry Rehman confirmed Marri and Shah’s remarks about not being consulted and noted that the party had no idea that such a move by the Centre would be taken and that the party
Responding to a question regarding their alliance with the PML-N, the senator acknowledged that the government’s move shouldn’t come as a surprise to them as they are allies.
