Nobody can blackmail Imran having two-thirds majority: PTI

LAHORE/ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leaders – Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Fawad Hussain Chaudhry – said on Monday nobody would be able to blackmail Imran Khan when he would get two-thirds majority in the Parliament in the fresh elections.

They were talking to the media at the Supreme Court Lahore registry after filing a petition for registration of an FIR [first information report] on the complaint of party chairman Imran Khan, who came under an attack on Nov 3 in Wazirabad. PTI MNAs, MPAs and other party leaders had reached the SC registry for filing of the petition.

They urged the judiciary to treat the cases of Imran Khan, Azam Swati and Arshad Sharif on merit. PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi filed a petition in the SC Lahore Registry for formation of a judicial commission to investigate the gun attack on party chief Imran Khan in Wazirabad.

The petition was submitted to SC Deputy Registrar Aijaz Goraya in the wake of the Punjab Police refusal to register an FIR against the people Imran Khan wanted to nominate.

He told the media the party had requested the chief justice to form a judicial commission to probe the cases of Imran Khan, Azam Swati and Arshad Sharif. He said the PTI MPs had submitted applications in Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Islamabad and Lahore registries of the apex court.

He said the PTI expected of the judicial commission to probe all aspects related to the assassination attempt on Imran Khan. He said the PTI chairman had nominated three persons for the FIR, but their names had not been included. Also, he said the way the dignity of Senator Azam Swati and his family was hurt was really painful and it was hard to even comment on it. He said he expects that the judicial commission would also probe the incident as well as the factors behind the assassination of renowned journalist Arshad Sharif.

Former information minister and senior PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry also urged judiciary to treat these cases on merit to restore the trust of people of Pakistan in judiciary. He said a complainant had every right to register an FIR in case of any injustice, but that right was being denied to Imran Khan. He said Imran Khan barely survived an assassination attempt, but an FIR of the attack was not being registered.

“The law is clear. I am nominating the people involved in it. You simply register the complaint,” Fawad said. “I say don’t weaken the Supreme Court so much that people stop looking towards it,” Fawad said, adding that decisions could not be taken in closed rooms in Pakistan. “If elections were held timely, the country would be in a better condition.”

He said the PTI was fighting a war to redeem the pride of institutions. “A crisis has arisen in the judicial system, the same is the case with other institutions,” Fawad added. “Our fight is to restore the gravitas of the constitution, democracy, and institutions. We have advised them to avoid conflicts and move forward,” Fawad said, adding: “There are three issues on which we want the Supreme Court to take notice”.

Alluding to the ouster of his party in a late-night vote of no-trust, he said the “regime change operation” created a lot of instability in Pakistan. Later, addressing the participants in the PTI long march at Mandi Bahauddin, Shah Mehmood Qureshi called out Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah for his plans to use tear-gas on the marchers once they reach Islamabad. “Look at the faces of the PTI supporters; I don’t see any fear among them despite the revelation of your plans,” he said.

Separately, PTI Senior Vice-President Dr. Shireen Mazari clarified that party chairman and former PM Imran Khan never denied US regime change conspiracy and that all he was saying was that “it happened and is behind us, and we are moving forward”.

“Once again to the journos writing for English papers here & for editorials in the same at least actually read & understand IK never denied US regime change conspiracy. All he is saying is it happened, is behind us & we r [are] moving forward. Deliberate distortion of IK words! Such dishonesty,” she said in tweets.

She noted that “for 26 years, IK has consistently said the same thing: that we want a dignified relationship with the US & other countries based on mutual respect. “We do not accept this current slave-master relationship with the US that our successive rulers have inflicted on our nation.”

In other tweets, she wrote, “This is shocking that the SC registrar prevented the PTI legislators from entering the SC in Islamabad today. Isn’t the SC supposed to be a public building? If legislators cannot enter a public building where one goes to seek justice, what must be the fate of ordinary citizens?

She demanded the SC registrar immediately apologise for his inexcusable action of preventing legislators from entering the SC. “The SC registrar should immed[iately] apologise for his inexcusable action of preventing legislators from entering the SC. The Senators who were denied entry into the SC should immediately submit a breach of privilege motion in Senate. Let us see if the biased Chairman Senate can take a stand,” she wrote.