PTI refutes PBC, SCBA allegations

Says country currently under sway of a hybrid dictatorship

LAHORE:

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Tuesday refuted accusations levelled against the party’s leadership during a joint news conference held by the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) and the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA).

In response to the conference, a PTI spokesperson characterised it as a political endeavour, asserting that it forms part of a sequence wherein the avenues for unhindered electoral processes for the nation's 12.5 million voters have been systematically obstructed by the judiciary.

The spokesperson underscored the inherent flaws in the Supreme Court's decision, deeming it both objectionable and a harbinger of perilous distortions within the constitutional and democratic framework of the country.

Emphasising that the PTI stands as the lone political entity among the 175 parties in the nation to have executed commendable, efficacious, and transparent intra-party elections, the spokesperson pointed to the party's consecutive intra-party elections held on June 8, 2022, and Dec 2, 2023. The Election Commission, the spokesperson noted, failed to raise substantive objections, limiting their critiques to inconsequential technicalities.

Expressing reservations over the Election Commission's stance, the spokesperson underscored that the PTI adhered to the legal framework by conducting the elections in the presence of media in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The intra-party election process unfolded over a span of at least five days, garnering continuous coverage on both mainstream and social media across Pakistan.

The spokesperson declared that the Tehreek-e-Insaf, guided by the vision of its founding chairman Imran Khan, chose a qualified and capable party member for the position of chairman, thereby discarding hereditary politics.

Read also: ECP’s list of registered political parties includes PTI

The decision to appropriate the bat symbol, the spokesperson alleged, was clandestinely made behind closed doors, with an orchestrated effort to implicate the judiciary in the eyes of the public.

Regrettably, the spokesperson lamented, the sanctity of the Constitution was disregarded, and the courts were utilised as instruments for the most egregious form of political reprisal.

Despite these affronts to the rule of law, the integrity of the people's vote, and fundamental constitutional rights in Pakistan, the spokesperson noted a conspicuous absence of concern or remorse among the implicated parties.

The four provinces and the central government, the spokesperson argued, fell into the hands of unconstitutional, illegal, unrepresentative and unelected authorities, yet garnered negligible attention.

In the face of overt threats to the judiciary, particularly the judges of the Peshawar High Court, the spokesperson decried the absence of any response or news conference from their quarters.

Read: PTI's legal hopes dim

Concluding the statement, the spokesperson contended that the country was currently under the sway of a hybrid dictatorship, shrouded in the veneer of constitutional and democratic frameworks.

The spokesperson alleged that this coalition was tirelessly attempting to defend extra-constitutional and legal decisions while aligning itself with the political agenda of the state.

Earlier in the day, the PBC and the SCBA, during their news conference, cautioned the PTI against making contemptuous statements targeting the top court judges while acknowledging the party's right to criticise the Supreme Court verdict.

The lawyers criticised the PTI for neglecting to conduct elections despite multiple notices from the Election Commission, asserting that the party could not fault the judges for their unpreparedness in the case.

On Jan 14, the Supreme Court of Pakistan invalidated the "bat" as the election symbol for the PTI, citing the nullification of the PHC verdict.

The verdict declared that the PTI failed to provide evidence of transparent intra-party elections, a requirement incumbent upon all political parties to ensure the fairness of their internal electoral processes.