LAHORE: Punjab Information Minister Azma Bukhari has slammed the Supreme Court’s ruling on PTI’s reserved seats, calling it the “darkest day in the history of Pakistan”.
At a press conference in Lahore, Bukhari claimed that the decision granted relief to former Prime Minister Imran Khan as he had been granted relief earlier under Article 63(a), similar to previous reliefs granted to dictators, including former President Gen (retired) Pervez Musharraf.
“Yesterday it was said that there is a lot of intervention by agencies and there were problems of survival,” Bukhari said, adding that when there is indeed intervention by agencies, cases like the Panama leaks are reported and daughters are arrested on sight of their fathers.
The minister questioned the impartiality of the decision, saying that it was given in advance. She further reported that former ministers Fawad Chaudhry and Miftah Ismail said the decision was meant for re-election. She also referred to a tweet from Shahzad Akbar that appeared to predict the verdict a day in advance, asking: “Who said a day ago that the decision would be announced by an 8-5 majority?”
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s mistakes, which should have been corrected by their lawyers, were corrected by the judges, Bukhari claims.
The minister expressed concern about the constitutional implications of the decision, especially when it comes to crossing floors. She said, “It is clear that defection is not possible. Yesterday they allowed constitutional defection to join PTI,” and asked under which section of the Election Act it would be permissible.
The minister also questioned how the judges said PTI is and was a political party.
