ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry on Tuesday asserted that the PDM-led government was planning arrest of Imran Khan before holding general elections to “fulfill the desire for overturning conviction of Nawaz Sharif.”
“The government thinks that Nawaz Sharif’s convictions should be overturned, but the question remains as to how can there be a consensus on such demand of the government,” declared Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry while talking to journalists outside the Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan following the proceedings of suo motu noice regarding delay in announcement of date for holding elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
“The election will be held as per the constitution and not by consensus”, he added.
The former information minister lauded the apex court for taking suo motu notice of delay in the announcement of elections date, saying judiciary’s intervention was the way to resolve the matter following the refusal of the governors to announce date for elections of both the provincial assemblies.
Terming the Supreme Court the ‘saviour of the Constitution’, the PTI leader said that their primary job was to protect the Constitution and asked the ruling PDM’s leaders’ not to make the apex court part of public debate.
Fawad Ch further said during the hearing of the suo motu case, the PML-N also employed its “old tactics to divide the Supreme Court”. “If elections are delayed beyond 90 days it will shake the foundations of the Constitution,” he said, hoping that the court’s verdict will be based on Constitution.
Speaking of the proceedings, Fawad noted that the bench considered who has the constitutional responsibility for appointing the date for the holding of a general election to a provincial assembly, upon its dissolution. “All the lawyers have maintained that the elections should be held within 90 days”, he added.
“The judge suggested that the matter should be resolved by consensus”, he said, adding that the PTI also wanted the same. However, he said, the government was planning to arrest Imran Khan before holding elections.