The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) demanded invocation of Article 6 of the Constitution against those who took unconstitutional steps despite the country’s established Constitution.
The party founded by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan called on the allies of the incumbent coalition government to clarify their stance on the government’s plan to ban Khan’s party.
At a press conference in Islamabad on Monday, the PTI leadership condemned the federal government’s decision to ban the Imran Khan-led party.
Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Omar Ayub Khan, claimed that the allies of the ruling coalition, including the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), do not support the government’s potential move to ban the party.
“We call on the PPP and the MQM-P to clarify their position, as the ANP has already done,” he added.
Omar urged all other democratic parties to clarify their stance on the government’s “unconstitutional” step, asking, “Are they standing by democracy or civil martial law?”
In its latest effort to suppress the PTI, the federal government announced on Monday its decision to ban the party and initiate Article 6 proceedings against its founder Imran Khan, former president Dr. Arif Alvi, and former National Assembly deputy speaker Qasim Suri.
This move seems aimed at preventing the PTI from becoming the single largest party in the National Assembly.
The announcement followed recent relief granted to the party by the top court in the reserved seats case and to the party chief in the Iddat case.
It remains to be seen what impact the proposed ban will have on the top court’s decision on reserved seats and the PTI-affiliated lawmakers.
