Capital on tenterhooks as PDM stages SC dharna today

ISLAMABAD:

The ruling alliance is all set to stage a sit-in right outside the Supreme Court building today (Monday) to protest against what it describes as the judiciary’s preferential treatment of former premier and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan.

The ruling alliance — Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) — on May 12 announced holding the sit-in after the apex court came to the rescue of Imran Khan who was arrested from inside the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on May 9 on the order of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

Addressing a press conference on Friday, PDM chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said a protest will be held “against the behaviour of the Supreme Court”.

“A big sit-in will be staged to express that the Supreme Court is the mother of law, not the mother-in-law,” Rehman said, as he called upon the supporters to reach Islamabad for the sit-in.

“Every citizen of the country will reach Islamabad on Monday and hold a peaceful demonstration outside the Supreme Court,” he added.

On Sunday, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah told a press conference that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had directed him to meet the PDM chief and ask him to change the venue of the sit-in.

Sanaullah said the administration had informed him that it will be very difficult to control the protest and that the information being received from security institutions was very alarming.

Later Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Rana Sanaullah met Fazlur Rehman twice but the latter did not agree to change the venue of the protest. It was decided that the final decision with regard to the venue will be taken on Monday morning.

On Sunday night, the Maulana tweeted that a “peaceful” sit-in would be staged outside the apex court.

The JUI-F also issued a statement which said the PDM was firm in its choice of venue, with Fazl and other leaders rejecting any chance of relocating the sit-in which is supposed to continue for an indefinite period.

Though the ruling parties have expressed their willingness to hold the protest outside the apex court, the application seeking permission from the authorities concerned remained pending till late midnight.

Apart from the PDM chief, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz, PPP Chairman and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto, and other leaders of the ruling alliance are expected to address the sit-in.

Read PDM stands firm on SC protest despite govt plea for relocation

The ruling coalition and a section of the superior judiciary led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial have been at odds since February this year when the top court started suo motu proceedings on delay in announcement of dates for elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) provinces.

However, this acrimony intensified when a three-judge bench led by CJP Bandial on May 11 declared the arrest of the PTI chairman from inside the IHC illegal.

The bench also ruled that the PTI chief be provided foolproof security; he should stay as guest at the Police Lines Guest House until he appears in the IHC to complete the process of applying for a bail in different cases including the NAB case in which he was arrested.

The IHC also granted Imran bail on May 12, while ordering authorities not to arrest him in any case, pending or new ones, till May 17.

Imran’s release following a brief detention on order of the SC was seen as a major blow to the ruling alliance which was hoping to use the arrest to bolster its political capital but found itself on the defensive again, lamenting that PTI once again got preferential treatment from judges.

Subsequently, the PDM chief announced a sit-in outside the Supreme Court. The federal cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, also issued a strong condemnation of the CJP for his “extraordinary intervention” in Imran’s arrest.

The cabinet not only deemed the intervention as “misconduct” on the part of the top judge but opined that Imran’s arrest was carried out in line with the Constitution, law, and legal procedures in an “open and shut case of corruption and corrupt practices”.

Since then, the government has issued a number of statements and held press conferences against the CJP. Maryam Nawaz went on to say that CJP Bandial should officially join the PTI.

The call for protest has come on the heels of the PTI’s call to express solidarity with the CJP.

Political observers noted that the protest call has exposed double standards of the government as the PDM is holding the protest against the SC judges days after the capital’s administration refused to give the PTI protestors permission to hold rallies in the capital, saying Section 144 was enforced in the city.

Neither the information minister nor the police or other authorities concerned replied to a question about their getting permission for the protest and whether Section 144 had been silently lifted.