Islamabad (National Times) The PPP secretary general on Thursday said that the party will “stand with the federal cabinet’s decisions”, days after a few senior party members decried the government’s announcement to ban the PTI.
Earlier this week, the federal government announced that it had 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 appeared to be an attempt to prevent the PTI from becoming the single largest party in the NA as the announcement was made on the heels of relief given to the party by the top court in the case of the reserved seats as well as to the party chief in the Iddat case.
The announcement attracted flak from across the political spectrum, with stakeholders from different parties terming the move “undemocratic.” Several senior PPP leaders also opposed the move, with former senators Raza Rabbani and Farhatullah Babar openly criticising the idea.
On the other hand, PPP stalwart Khursheed Shah said the party’s leadership — despite being part of the ruling coalition — was not taken on board regarding the decision.
Later, however, the PPP distanced itself from the statements of its senior members, terming them “personal opinions”, highlighting that the issue had not been discussed at any level within the party.
On Thursday, PPP Secretary General Nayyar Hussain Bokhari once again clarified the party’s stance, solidifying its status as the government’s ally.
“PPP stands with the government and will endorse the decisions of the federal cabinet,” Bokhari told Dawn.com over the phone.
“We are allies of the federal government, and even if differences of opinion emerged within the party on a particular issue, it was treated as their own viewpoint and has nothing to do with the party’s policies.”
Deputy Prime Minister, Ishaq Dar had said on Tuesday that no conclusive decision was made yet regarding the announcement to ban the PTI, adding that such a step would only be decided by the leadership and its allies.
Today, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said the matter of imposing Article 6 on PTI leaders could be brought to the Parliament for debate.
The law minister said that there was a “genuine case” of Article 6 against PTI leaders as the Constitution was violated by dissolving the assemblies in the presence of a no-confidence motion.
“Last year, decision was not taken to ban the PTI to maintain the political environment,” he said.
Khawaja Asif terms announcement ‘premature’
Meanwhile, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif termed the government’s announcement “premature” and said consultation with allies was necessary.
“Action will be taken according to the consensus that is achieved,” he said while speaking on Geo News show ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’.
Criticising the PTI for its actions since the ouster of its government, he said the party had become an “existential threat” to the country.
However, Asif said the floor was open to achieving “broader political consensus” in the fight against terrorism but rued that the PTI’s attitude was “not encouraging”.
Questioned about the government’s announcement being a “non-starter”, Asif said he felt the overall situation was heading towards a “constitutional meltdown and breakdown”.
Further pressed on the predictions by Business Monitor International (BMI), an arm of the Fitch credit ratings agency, about the government’s tenure to remain till the next 18 months and a technocratic setup to come after instead of elections, Asif said: “You have yourself reached the conclusion I was only hinting at. The current situation is not tenable.”
