PTI holds rallies in show of solidarity with apex court, constitution

The PTI is holding protests in different cities in support of the Supreme Court, Constitution, and Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial amid ongoing conflict between the judiciary and parliament over the holding of elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Aaj News reported.

PTI chairman Imran Khan announced today's rallies after talks with the government on elections ended without a conclusion.

Addressing a rally in Lahore, Imran criticized Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari for their foreign trips in the midst of the country's current crisis.

“Pakistan is being humiliated in the world. How the Indian foreign minister’s behaviour was when Bilawal went to India is a basis for shame for all of us. We ask the question, Bilawal you are touring the entire world but first tell that before going do you ask anyone that you’re spending the country’s money on a trip so what will be the benefit or loss from it?”

He pointedly criticised the manners of Indian Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

“Don’t you have any culture or etiquette that a guest comes to your country — either don’t invite them but to invite and then humiliate them like this reflects [poorly] on India. This arrogance of yours I’m seeing, remember it is God’s law that the powerful do not always remain so and the weak do not always remain so as well.”

Earlier, he asked people to come out of their houses for one hour on May 6 to foil the ‘mafias’ designs against the top judge; such elements were creating a divide among the Supreme Court’s judges.

“If the Constitution ends and it will if they (the government) don’t follow the Supreme Court order — which the government has already said it won’t follow — then it means the Constitution has ended, he said.

"When that happens, it means a country’s future has ended since the law has ended and the law of the jungle has arrived which means no future for the country or your children,” he added.

Castigating the ruling coalition, he said it was running away from elections by going against the Constitution of Pakistan and the Chief Justice, adding that they were scared of losing the elections, as they have triggered unemployment and inflation in the country, and the people were angry.

“Come out of your houses for the sake of your children’s future and the country, and tell the Chief Justice that the nation is standing by you,” he reiterated.

While addressing the nation through a video link here on Friday, the PTI chief said that Pakistan was at a decisive moment in its history; hence all should come out of their houses to fight for their right to vote and the Constitution, and thus save Pakistan otherwise this country would become unlivable.

He said the rulers would not hold elections till favourable conditions were created for their victory and thus, in reality, the people would have no say in the future government setup.

He pointed out that the coalition government constantly refused to accept the Supreme Court’s decision to hold elections on May 14 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab. “If the court’s order were not followed and subsequently, the Constitution was violated, there would be no law in the country; this would mean the law of the jungle would be imposed on the people,” he added.

He smelled foul play behind the rulers’ demand to hold the elections in October; “there was a reason behind this, the mafia (the rulers) was buying time to crush my party and then hold elections. As a part of the London plan, they would put me in jail and then kill me while the PTI leaders and workers would be subjected to torture and harassment. If their plan fails then there would be no elections in 2023,” he said.

He pointed out that they were afraid of losing elections because of the economic meltdown and unprecedented inflation in the country; they were seeing a certain defeat in the elections so the mafia was bent upon destroying the Constitution and the Supreme Court, adding that it has no plan to take the country’s economy in the right direction.