LAHORE: Former prime minister and chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan on Friday expressed concerns over the brewing judicial crises, warning that foreign investors may be getting a troubling message after the Pakistani government’s decision to not accept the Supreme Court’s decision in the Punjab polls delay case.
Khan’s comments came after the federal government demanded that Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial step down, claiming that his position had become “controversial” after Justice Athar Minallah’s note in the case.
Justice Minallah stated that the Supreme Court’s suo motu notice over the delay in the announcement of provincial assembly elections was dismissed by a majority 4-3 ruling. This ruling was rejected by the government, who labeled it a “minority verdict”, with the National Assembly also passing a resolution against the top court.
Khan took to Twitter to express his concerns over the situation, warning that investors may lack confidence in a country’s judicial system if the government disregards court orders. He said, “Investors need security of contracts & that means faith in judicial system. What confidence can they have when govt itself casting aside SC orders? This happens in a banana republic.”
The PTI chief also claimed that the sedition cases filed against him and the imprisonment of senior party leader Ali Amin Gandapur are attempts to undermine their party’s ability to contest elections.
He alleged that this was part of a “London Plan” in which Nawaz Sharif was given assurances that PTI would be crushed before elections through fake cases and imprisonment of its leadership.
Imran Khan has been pushing for assembly elections in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provinces as part of a campaign to force an early general election that he has waged since being forced from office a year ago after losing a vote of confidence.
However, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has rejected Imran Khan’s call for an early general election and his government had backed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) delay in the votes in the two provinces to Oct 8.
The commission cited a lack of resources and the government agreed, saying it was not possible to organise the provincial elections while the country was struggling with an economic crisis and with a general election due around early October anyway.
But the Supreme Court ruled that the delay was illegal and voting in the two provinces should be held between April 30 and May 15.
A three-member SC bench comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, and Justice Munib Akhtar had announced the verdict on the PTI’s petition challenging the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) move to postpone the Punjab Assembly polls till October 8.
The government’s refusal to accept the Supreme Court’s decision has raised concerns about the state of country’s democracy and judicial system. It remains to be seen how this situation will be resolved and what impact it will have on the country’s economy and its relations with foreign investors.
