'No party including PTI should be banned,' says ex-PML-N leader

Former Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Muhammad Zubair has voiced his opposition to the government's bid of banning Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). 

"PTI is the most popular political party and no party including the PTI should be banned," said Zubair while speaking during an interview with a private TV channel on Wednesday. 

The former Sindh governor also stressed to remove the "restrictions" for the country's development as they had hindered progress.

His remarks came after Information Minister Attaullah Tarar doubled down on the government's decision to ban the PTI, saying the government had made up its mind to go ahead with its "principled" decision.

"[We] have consulted with the Pakistan Peoples Party with regards to the PTI ban and are currently in talks with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan [...] people are strongly supporting [the idea of banning [PTI]", Tarar said.

The former Sindh governor said that about 70% of Pakistanis say that the party should not be banned. "The parties want to ban the majority party," he said.

Zubair questioned if the use of Article 6 was limited to the politics and politicians, adding that Article 6 should not be imposed until the "Constitution is thrown into the trash".

He claimed that the PML-N used the May 9 incident for political purposes.

PML-N leader Mian Javed Latif also said that no matter if a party has 70% support or 5%, it should not be banned. "If a political party was banned before then it was wrong," he stressed.

Latif said that Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz was wrongly arrested but the wrong cannot be corrected by justifying that.