The government on Thursday announced that it would challenge in the court of law Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) decision of suspending the Prime Minister's relief package for farmers. "Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan pressurised ECP and the later got blackmailed and suspended the package, which has no moral or legal stand," said Minister for Information and Broadcasting Pervez Rashid while addressing a press conference here on Thursday.
The lawyers would decide whether they move Supreme Court of Pakistan or High Court for this purpose, he added. The package was for the poor farmers of the country and was not specific to a constituency, said Rashid, adding that Imran Khan always stood against every facility given to poor segments of society - if it is Metro bus project or Danish School scheme.
The minister criticised the ECP while saying elections are a continuous process; however if it follow this logic, the government would not be able to provide any relief to people in term of reducing petroleum products prices and power tariff. The package was not meant for feudal lords but small farmers and beneficiaries would have been the poor farmers from across the country. The farmers are under great pressure due to falling prices of cotton and rice in the international market. The government had also announced a relief package last year keeping in view their fragile situation due to falling prices of commodities.
The minister said apart from the government, it was also a demand of the National Assembly and the Senate to provide relief to farmers. Imran held three conventions and demanded a relief package for farmers, however when government announced the package he stood against it. Khan had threatened ECP that he would hold a sit-in on October 4, and now he was threatening that he would hold a sit-in if bye-election results were not according to his wishes. The package should not be linked with bye-election or local bodies elections as elections are a continuous process, but relief is also essential for poor segment of society.