Qureshi warns govt of meeting Gilani’s fate if it rejects SC order

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders Tuesday termed the Supreme Court’s (SC) verdict a watershed moment and urged all the PTI leaders and supporters to start planning to re-elect Imran Khan to the office of the prime minister.

Talking to journalists here outside the Supreme Court of Pakistan, PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi congratulated the nation and said it was an important day in Pakistan’s political history. “The apex court has buried the Doctrine of Necessity, restored the sanctity of the Constitution and buried all those conspiratorial forces creating hurdles in the way of democracy and constitutional system,” he retorted.

Qureshi continued that if the government did not accept the apex court judgment, then it would meet the fate of Yusuf Raza Gilani. He alleged the government had exerted pressure on the apex court, hurled threats and also tried to divide the superior judiciary.

However, a clear line has been drawn today between the constitutional and unconstitutional forces. “As a representative of Imran Khan, I invite all for talks for free and transparent elections,” he maintained.

He urged the Punjab government to implement the SC order and hold elections in Punjab, since the apex court had removed all the reservations of the ECP, so it should hold elections without fear.

Qureshi said that the chief election commissioner used to speak of a lack of resources and security personnel, but all of that is available now and the electoral watchdog would get security and funds.

Qureshi said that political parties should create an environment of fair and transparent elections and seek people’s votes by presenting their manifestos. He predicted the PTI government would be formed in Punjab again.

In his reaction, PTI Central Secretary General Asad Umar said that the attempt to deviate from the Constitution and the Doctrine of Necessity has been rejected. He said that the imported government first created a political crisis, then an economic crisis, adding that now the government was hell-bent on creating a state crisis by clashing with the apex court. PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry described Justice Umar Ata Bandial as the chief justice of the people.

“Very few people have the privilege to get the amount of respect that has come to Justice Umar Ata Bandial and his fellow judges today,” he said. PTI Senior Vice President Dr Shireen Mazari said that the Constitution stood reaffirmed by the SC. She went on to say that the ECP’s decision on March 22 to delay the Punjab elections had no basis in the Constitution and the law and the ECP’s ‘shenanigans stand exposed yet again’.