ISLAMABAD - Incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan on Monday warned of countrywide protests if the ruling coalition made any attempt to give an extension in the tenure of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Qazi Faez Isa and continued its efforts not to implement the apex court ruling on reserved seats of the parliament.
“I will give the call of a street movement if the decision of the Supreme Court to give reserved seats to PTI was not implemented,” former prime minister Khan said while talking to reporters during a court hearing inside Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail.
He explained that the government has got passed an amendment in the elections law to prevent the implementation of the SC judgment on reserved seats and now the rulers were making behind the scene efforts to get the required two-third majority to bring a constitutional amendment to give an extension to the chief justice.
“They are again violating the constitution by depriving the PTI of its reserved seats like they did the same by not holding the elections in two provinces with the stipulated time period,” he said. The PTI chief accused that the federal government was not accepting the SC judgment only to get two-third majority.
He further alleged that CJP Isa and the Election Commission of Pakistan were hand in gloves but all their plans ended in smoke on the fateful day. He resembled the country’s situation with Bangladesh and underlined that former prime minister Sheikh Hasina had appointed her handpicked chief justice, and election commissioner. “When people in Bangladesh came out on streets, the army refused to fire at them,” he said, adding that such tactics would not work for the incumbent government.
Asking his supporters to be ready as he was going to give the call of a protest, PTI founding chairman said that the army did not belong to only one man or a political party but it was of the whole country.
Khan clarified that he had neither any backdoor contacts with the establishment nor any talks were under way. “I am ready to talk for the sake of the country,” he said, reiterating his stance that they would only talk with the powerful establishment, not “the puppet politicians.” He also emphasised that he would not care if some rejected his demands during talks.
Separately, PTI leadership in a presser decried the Supreme Court ruling on vote recount in three National Assembly constituencies that de-seated three MNAs of the party.
Addressing a press conference here, PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan said that the party would file a review against the decision and called it a “murder of justice.”
“We are extremely disappointed with the SC ruling. Our seats have been handed over to another political party with the stroke of a pen,” he said.