Judicial commission: Imran asks govt for a date to sign ‘agreed upon’ MoU

Says PTI, govt drew up the deal during talks but never got back on the matter

Revealing the contents of a proposed agreement on the judicial commission, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Thursday asked the government for a date to sign it and said delaying the issue further would be detrimental to national interest.

Talking to reporters at his Bani Gala residence, the PTI chief said his party’s secretary general Jahangir Tareen has written to Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, requesting the government to announce a date for signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on promulgating the ordinance required for setting up a judicial commission to probe rigging in the May 2013 elections.

Imran claimed the MoU was drawn up by both PTI and govt representatives during their negotiations. He said the government negotiators were supposed to get back to the PTI on the agreement after consulting the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leadership and the party’s allies, but they had signalled nothing so far.

Revealing the contents of the MoU, Imran said the government had agreed to promulgate an ordinance under article 89 of the Constitution to form a judicial commission comprising three Supreme Court judges. The two sides would request the chief justice to head the commission, according to the proposed MoU.

Talking about the role of commission as described in the MoU, Imran said it would determine whether the 2013 elections were conducted impartially, honestly, fairly and in accordance with the law, or if the results were manipulated or influenced in any way.

The PTI chief added the party will announce its future plan of action on January 18 since it had not received any response from the government since December 30.

Talking about the backlash from parents he faced while visiting the Army Public School in Peshawar, Imran said: “I did not visit the school for the media. My wife and I wanted to visit the school for the children.” He added that he understands the sentiments of the parents. “If I were in their position, I would also protest in the same manner.”

Imran hell-bent on not letting govt work smoothly: Rashid

Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid on Thursday said Imran Khan’s sole objective is to paralyse the country for the next three years by preventing the government from performing its functions.

Talking to reporters at a news conference in Islamabad, he accused the PTI chief of continuing to lie about rigging in the 2013 elections and fooling his followers through baseless allegations.

Rashid said Imran was afraid of a recount as it will expose his defeat. “He [Imran] is fabricating new lies every day to avoid the embarrassment he faces because of the recount [of votes in NA-122].”

The minister said no report ever mentioned the thousands invalid votes Imran said were found in several constituencies.

Responding to Imran’s allegations that the government was delaying justice, Rashid said PTI leader Hamid Khan got 14 adjournments to delay the judgment of the election tribunal because he knew the verdict would go against him.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 16^th, 2015.