Wajihuddin responds to allegations

ISLAMABAD: After failing to prevent justice retired Wajihuddin Ahmed from launching his own group in the party on August 14 the hardcore PTI leadership has decided to confront him for his going public against the party chairman’s decisions.
The ‘founding members’ of the party have posed ten basic questions through party’s website challenging his integrity and sincerity for the party. Signed by a dozen purportedly founding members the questions have one by one responded to by the justice. The questions include a query as to why only five out of 70 intra party petitions submitted to him were investigated and decisions were given without hearing the accused.
In his response, Justice Wajih rejected the allegation that he is “damaging the party.” Instead he blames those who have led the party away from its founding principles as ‘no damage is bigger than to lead the party away from its vision and ideology.’
Questioning the motivation of some of those who tried to malign him by raising 10 questions, he stated that Saifullah Niazi and Qasim Khan Suri have already been issued show cause and have not responded to the allegations despite reminders and once the Tribunal comes out of its hibernation, their fate may be no different from those already expelled from the party.
If the ET exercise was faulty why did the chairman go up the Azadi Bus and proclaimed to the whole world that the ET order would be implemented?
Regarding the question that the ‘Tribunal’s mandate was only to hear the election petitions, Justice Wajih responded that ‘The ET was seized of all election grievances.’
Justice Wajih rejected the allegation that any attempt was made to alter the PTI constitution.
Regarding the allegation that Justice Wajih overruled Imran Khan on party matters, he stated that after the Tribunal Order of March 18, 2015 ‘all offices in the party stood ceased including that of Chairman PTI. However, an exception of the office of Chairman PTI was made by allowing it to function to oversee the forthcoming elections only.
Regarding the allegation that Justice Wajih tried to ‘destroy this democratic culture’, he stated that PTI has a long way to go before it can be termed as a democratic party. The repeated violation of the Tribunal orders is a case in point. He stated that since October 17, 2014 no caretakers have been appointed. The defunct Core Committee continued itself and ironically practically all the previous office holders were re-christened who true to their track record indulged in pre-poll rigging, which continues unabated. No caretakers have yet been appointed. He blamed the loss of over half a dozen by-elections and repeated failures in LG elections on the disarray in the party where rejected politicians are accepted with open arms.
Justice Wajih rejected the allegation that senior PTI leaders were targeted in its orders. He said action was taken only after in-controvertible evidence of a very high order was available and despite repeated notices to M/s Pervaiz Khattak, Jehangir Khan Tarin, Nadir Leghari and Aleem Khan. No reply whatever, except a flimsy one on behalf of Jehangir Khan Tarin, was received.
Justice Wajih stated that M/s Arif Alvi, Saifullah Khan Niazi and Qasim Khan Suri were also subsequently sent show cause notices. None of them has replied either. Unless the three gentlemen are able to successfully defend their show cause, their fate may be no different than that of the former four.
Regarding the question that the ET used unethical means to propagate its judgments, Justice Wajih stated so long as the Tribunal had not suspended itself, the undersigned never addressed the electronic or print media. It was only after the Tribunal decided to get its orders enforced politically that I chose to meet the Chairman personally, something I had avoided previously.