ISLAMABAD/LAHORE   -  Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar Saturday strongly criticised the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and its founder Imran Khan for fostering politics of disruption in the country.

Addressing a news conference in Lahore, he said the party has engaged in activities detrimental to national interests. The minister said PTI has consistently propagated against national institutions and never hesitated to damage the country’s interests.

Touching upon internal strife within the PTI, he said sister of the PTI founder Aleema Khan informed Rauf Hassan that Bushra Bibi is spreading false news.

Attaullah Tarar said the party of those who engage in the politics of hatred and division is itself in disarray.

Meanwhile, Tarar also clarified that the federal government is not considering any option to extend judges’ tenure, rebutting speculations that the federal government is planning to introduce judiciary-centric legislation in parliament. Tarar made the statement amid rumours that incumbent government mulling amendments to extend the tenure of the judges and, make changes in the laws related to the top jurists appointments based on the principle of seniority.

The speculations gained attraction after it emerged that the federal government is reportedly planning to summon a joint session on August 28 to introduce key legislation.

When questioned about the constitutional amendments in the pipeline on TV talk show, Tarar categorically rejected the rumours about plans of the federal government to extend the chief justice’s tenure. He further clarified that no constitutional amendment could be introduced during a joint session of the parliament.

The federal minister added that there was neither any amendment pertaining to the judiciary under consideration nor the judges’ extension.

“Legislative Committee did not discuss any amendment regarding the judiciary in recent days,” he said.

The information minister said that the speculations were fictitious as President Asif Ali Zardari summoned a routine session of the parliament. He, however, confirmed that there was a chance for a joint session next week in which the legislators would take up some pending bills.

Tarar, the ruling PML-N leader, said that a debate was held on the judges’ extension a few months ago but it was not on the government’s agenda right now.

Clearing the air about the CJP’s appointment, the minister said that they were not considering any recommendation to issue a notification of the next chief justice’s appointment early. It is worth mentioning that prior to the expected joint parliament session, President Zardari also summoned the session of the National Assembly on August 26 (Monday) and the Senate on August 27 (Tuesday) under Article 54(1) of the Constitution.