LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry has disclosed that the party’s counsel Ali Zafar was going to file a petition against the “controversial appointment” of an interim chief minister in Punjab while former Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi was also moving the Supreme Court separately on the same issue.
He also asked the governors of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and interim chief ministers to immediately announce election dates and also appealed to the Supreme Court to take up the matter and not wait for further destruction, adding that the governors violated the Constitution by not announcing the dates at the time of issuing the notifications for dissolution of provincial assemblies.
While addressing at a press conference here on Tuesday along with PTI Central Punjab General Secretary HammadAzhar, he said that the Constitution was being blatantly violated; “the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) appointed a person as interim Punjab chief minister who does not qualify even for the post of a patwari (land revenue official). The PTI was going to challenge this appointment in the court of law and hope that the court would provide justice,” he added.
He claimed that all officers responsible for the May 25 brutal torture of PTI peaceful protestors, workers and leaders were being posted in Punjab ahead of elections.
“We have submitted an application with the ECP asking it to bar the government from appointing anti-PTI officials in Punjab,” he disclosed.
He cautioned that the present interim set-up of not taking unconstitutional steps and warned them of pursuing sedition cases against them under Article 6 if the Constitution was violated.
On the appointment of Mohsin Naqvi as the interim chief minister, he said a caretaker chief minister takes an oath to remain impartial; “any biased act would be a violation of his oath and the Constitution, and those who violate the Constitution will face Article 6. Naqvi does not qualify for the top slot since he does not fulfil the requirement of being impartial and non-controversial as defined in the Constitution; hence, the PTI would approach the court against the appointment of Naqvi,” he added.
Responding to a question, he said this new trend of blackmailing by media owners should be stopped.
“The journalist should condemn appointments of media owners in caretaker governments. The country was facing a similar situation that it faced in the 1970s in which the country disintegrated,” he added.
He highlighted that the current economic situation of the country does not permit holding elections twice as each election would cost Rs 40-50 billion.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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