Gohar urges NA speaker to calm tempers

Cautions confrontation could push country towards instability

ISLAMABAD:

PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar on Monday urged National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq to actively intervene to reduce political tension, warning that confrontation with state institutions could push the country towards instability.

During the NA session chaired by Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, Barrister Gohar said the country could not afford further chaos and stressed that any escalation against institutions would be dangerous.

He requested the speaker to play a role in resolving the leadership issue concerning the opposition leader and broader political tensions.

Responding to the appeal, the NA speaker said blaming institutions would achieve nothing and underlined that solutions could only emerge through dialogue.

He clarified that the matter related to the opposition leader was sub judice and added that he would announce a decision as soon as a court order was received.

Accepting Gohar's offer to assist in initiating talks, the speaker once again called on both the government and opposition to return to negotiations.

The speaker further stated that he remained ready to play his part, saying it takes two to tango and assured that he would also engage with the government.

He warned that statements targeting institutions were not in the national interest and stressed that neither parliament nor the country benefited from such rhetoric.

He added that institutions belonged to everyone, were guarding the country's borders and were engaged in fighting terrorism and urged members to focus on parliament's constitutional responsibilities, saying sustainable solutions could only be achieved through dialogue inside parliament.

Meanwhile, speaking to journalists outside the Parliament House, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan on Monday questioned the legality of what he described as a ban on the party, asking how such an action could be taken without the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) issuing any formal certificate.

On Sunday, the polls supervisory body refused to recognise Gohar as the party's chairperson.

In response to Gohar's earlier letter, the ECP said that on November 13 he had sought acknowledgement of independent senators' affiliation with the PTI.

The commission noted that the PTI intra-party elections case was still pending, and the party had obtained a stay order from the Lahore High Court (LHC). According to the ECP, he could not be recognised as PTI chairperson as he held no legal authority.

On January 13, 2024, a three-member Supreme Court bench upheld the ECP's December 22, 2023, order declaring the PTI's intra-party polls null and void.

Later, the PTI candidates had to contest the February 8, 2024, general elections as independents.

Eighty such independent candidates reached the National Assembly and later joined the SIC in an apparent bid to claim reserved seats for women and minorities. The ECP, however, refused to allocate the seats to the party, a decision that the SIC challenged in the Supreme Court.

On July 12, 2024, a full bench of the apex court, through a majority of eight to five, resurrected the PTI as a parliamentary party, noting that 39 of the lawmakers who had submitted certificates of their affiliation with the PTI along with their nomination papers were already PTI lawmakers.

The top court ruled that the remaining 41 lawmakers who had not submitted the affiliation certificates at the time of nomination papers' submission could do that now within a period of 15 days.

The ruling coalition later filed a review petition against the apex court ruling, which the Constitutional Bench took up in May.

Gohar said the election supervisor had not provided PTI with any written notification or certificate regarding a ban on the party. "If no certificate has been issued, how can the election commission impose a ban on PTI?" he asked.

He said PTI's Balochistan chapter did not field any candidates in the local government elections and that the party contested the general elections on the platform of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).

The PTI chairman said banning political parties was not a solution, adding that it was unfortunate for the country if, even two years later, politics continued to revolve around the events of May 9.

He said the country's 250 million people were looking toward parliament with hope for improvement.

Gohar said no politics should be played over the meeting between PTI founder Imran Khan and his sisters, stressing that efforts to reduce tensions between institutions and political parties must continue. Dialogue among political and democratic forces, he said, leads to better outcomes.

Drawing an international comparison, he noted that Europe had fought world wars but now shared a single currency and passport, adding that some elements did not want Pakistan's situation to improve. He alleged that "Form-47 beneficiaries" were also opposed to positive change.

He said the culture of blame must come to an end, adding that doors for dialogue in politics should always remain open.