Islamabad:
The Pakistan Electoral Commission (ECP) on Tuesday gave a major blow to the PTI parliamentary muscle, disqualifying several of the main leaders of the party’s opposition the day it marked the second anniversary of the arrest of Imran Khan with country demonstrations.
The ax fell hard, sweeping the party’s parliamentary leadership in the two houses, following a recent decision of an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Faisalabad. The court pronounced prison terms of up to 10 years at more than 100 PTI managers and workers, including the main figures in the opposition, for their alleged involvement in the riots of May 9, triggered by Khan’s dramatic arrest in 2023.
The people denified include the head of the opposition of the Senate Shibli Faraz, the opposition chief of the National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan, the chief of the council of Sunni Ittehad, Sahibzada Hamid Raza, and the parliamentary chief of Pti Zartaj Gul.
Three members of the Punjab assembly – Muhammad Ansar Iqbal, Junaid Afzal Sahi and Rai Muhammad Murtaza Iqbal – were also disqualified.
Acting on convictions, ECP has issued an official notification disqualifying nine legislators under article 63, paragraph h) of the Constitution, which prohibits any person convicted of an offense involving moral turpitude and sentenced to two or more prison in elected prison.
“A person must be disqualified to be elected or chosen as, and to be, a member of the Majlis-E-Mora (Parliament) if he has been, condemned for any offense involving moral turpitude, condemned to imprisonment for a mandate of no less than two years, unless a five-year period has passed since his release,” reads article 63 (1) (H).
The ECP said that the legislators, having been condemned and condemned, “are now disqualified under article 63 (1) h) of the Constitution”, adding that “consequently, their seats have become vacant”.
All the nine had been found guilty by the ATC for their alleged roles in the May 9 disorders, when the PTI supporters, exasperated by the arrest of Khan outside the High Court of Islamabad, took over and vandalized military facilities, including the commemorative monuments of martyrs. The PTI had previously declared that any attempt to stop Khan would cross his “red line”.
The next day, the soldiers declared on May 9 as a “dark day”, calling it a “dark chapter” in national history. However, the PTI has always stated that events were an “false flag operation” orchestrated by the establishment to supervise the party and crush the dissent.
The move of the ECP landed just when it was roasted the bustle of the street to mark the anniversary of the arrest of Khan. With the latest disqualifications, the leader alliance led by PML-NN is now practically undisputed in Parliament, deepening the political vacuum cleaner and tightening the node flowing around what remains of the opposition.
Reacting to ECP’s decision, Ayub said on X that he was grateful for the opportunity to serve as the NA opposition chief.
Expressing that his chief, Imran Khan and his colleagues had appointed him, he declared that he had been dismissed as chief of MNA NA18 and chief of the opposition “due to a false verdict by judge ATC Faisalabad Sheikh Javed Iqbal, who wrongly condemned me for 10 years”.
Ayub also declared that the court “was based on proof of the witnesses of proceedings which had been rejected by the ATC judge Sargodha last year, and we were acquitted”. He said that the verdict proves “that there is no rule of law in Pakistan”.
“This hybrid regime and its donors were disrupted by my stand as an opposition leader for declaring the truth and keeping them responsible,” he said.
He promised to challenge the Verdict of the ATC and the disqualification of the PCE before the court, expressing the hope that chief judge Yahya Afridi would take note of what he called “the state of deplorable affairs in the judicial power of Pakistan”.
Ayub finished on a provocative note saying: “I was, I am, and I will be a worker of Prime Minister Imran Khan and PTI”.
