LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Punjab senior leaders have welcomed the Supreme Court’s verdict on the legal status of defecting lawmakers’ votes and said that the decision upheld the spirit of the Constitution.

PTI Punjab President Shafqat Mahmood, Information Secretary Musarat Jamshed Cheema, Ejaz Minhas and Dr Zarqa Suharwardy Taimur expressed these views while addressing a joint press conference here on Wednesday.

They further said that democracy cannot move forward if the legislators do what pleases them. “It is written in the decision that the members of the assembly follow the policy of the party. As per the decision, the Parliament will decide the period of punishment for the defectors,” they added.

They believed that the Supreme Court’s verdict will end extortion and horse trading completely; “it has laid the foundation of principles, but the Election Commission is moving in a different direction”. “The people know that the defectors are turncoats, but the Election Commission is oblivious of the fact. Everyone knows that the turncoats in Punjab Assembly who had cast their votes for Hamza Sharif are traitors,” they added.

They were of the firm view that transparent elections cannot be held under the present Chief Election Commissioner,” he said.

They pointed out that the government has lost its majority and added that the government is trying to get rid of the NAB law; everybody knows that millions of rupees were detected in the account of a Shahbaz Sharif employee. “Those who have conspired against the country should also think that the country is being destroyed,” they added.

“The PTI leaders said that the PML-N-led government is incompetent that has created the economic crisis in the country and thus it should step down and announce fresh elections immediately,” they said.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022