Rejoinder: Former CJP has always been on ‘Team Nawaz', says PTI

Accuses Iftikhar Chaudhry of favouring Sharif brothers

ISLAMABAD: Former CJP Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry’s attempt to unseat Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNAs proves that he was always part of Premier Nawaz Sharif’s team, PTI Information Secretary Shireen Mazari said on Sunday.

Her rejoinder was the result of Chaudhry’s three-page letter to National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq wherein he said the PTI’s lawmakers had “lost any constitutional entitlement to a seat in the House” because “not only did they publicly repudiate their seats but actually turned in their resignations in writing”.

The PTI has repeatedly accused Chaudhry of playing a role in the alleged rigging in the 2013 general elections, and his letter seems to have brought about a barrage of criticism against him anew.

In an attempt to prove that the former chief justice of Pakistan favoured the Sharif brothers, Mazari said in a statement that “the Supreme Court had issued a stay order before the 2013 polls that ensured Shahbaz would continue to be the chief minister”.

She wondered why the same CJP who had actively pursued corruption cases against political leaders, taken up the NRO case and castigated a number of NAB chiefs for not being active enough, “never pursued a single NAB case against the Sharifs”.

About the 2013 polls, the statement said: “[Chaudhry] especially chose to address the returning officers, which was unprecedented.”

Mazari claimed that the former CJP took suo motu notices on many “trivial” issues, but “refused investigate rigging in four constituencies”.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 13^th, 2015.