PTI says govt's 'illegal moves' driven by 'desperation'

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) accused the federal government of attempting to ban the party "out of desperation" as the Supreme Court had ruled in favour of PTI in the reserved seats case, putting it on the path to becoming the largest party in the National Assembly.

Speaking to Geo News, senior PTI leader Senator Ali Zafar said his party would not allow the decision's implementation "even for a second" as it is against the law of the land.

Zafar’s comments came in response to Information Minister Attaullah Tarar’s announcement that the government had decided to ban the PTI and file treason references against the party founder Imran Khan and former president Arif Alvi.

"As far as their announcement of banning PTI is concerned, I believe that they live in a world which exists outside the law. There's no provision in the law that allows the government to resort to such a move."

The senator further said: "This statement itself disqualifies him [Tarar], and even if they think about such an impossible thing, then the courts are present and so are we. We will not allow such a decision to be implemented even for a second."

Taking a jibe at the information minister, Zafar said he thinks the minister spoke out of "desperation" after the reserved seat's judgement.

"This is an illegal decision."

Treason and review petition

The decision to not only ban the party, but file treason cases against the leaders was based on a number of factors, including the proven charge that Khan's PTI had received foreign funds from sources that are illegal in Pakistan, as well as rioting by the party's leadership and supporters last year that targeted military installations, Minister Tarar said.

But Zafar believes that even in this context, the minister, who is also a lawyer, does not have an understanding of the law.

"He also spoke about filing Article 6. I think he has not read the law. This talks about high treason. If you violate the law, it does not qualify you for Article 6."

"Everyone will face treason cases then if the government decides to take such a step. It saddens me that the government is talking about these things. Their case will be so baseless that they will not be able to defend it."

Speaking about the decision to file a review petition against the SC's reserved seats verdict, he said it was the government's Constitutional right to file a review petition if they have grounds for it.

"But they should remember that the case will be put before the same judges that had earlier issued the verdict on the reserved seats and when judges have made their decision, then 99% of the reviews are dismissed. I think that this decision is here to stay as it was announced after much deliberation."