Imran Khan fires fresh salvo at govt, institutions

Imran Khan fires fresh salvo at govt, institutions. In a fresh round of criticism, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan Wednesday slammed the state institutions after his party’s senior leader, Fawad Chaudhry, was arrested in a sedition case.

In a televised press conference, the PTI chief has said that the nation is looking to the Supreme Court and Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial for justice — which has been a far-fetched idea after the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) took over the reins.

Fawad Ch was arrested from his residence earlier today after he publicly “threatened” the members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in a media talk outside Imran Khan’s residence in Zaman Park a day ago.

Read more: LHC summons Punjab & Islamabad IGs over failure to produce Fawad Ch

Speaking to the media at a court in Lahore, where the police presented him for obtaining remand, Fawad said that he is “proud” of the case that has been registered against him.

As PTI workers protested at GT Road in Jhelum, the police also rounded up Fawad’s brother Faraz Chaudhry. However, a local magistrate released him on bail after a brief detention.

Censuring Punjab interim CM

Imran Khan, while censuring the ECP in his address, also questioned if it wasn’t aware of the Constitution’s Article 218 and its third clause which reads: “It shall be the duty of the Election Commission to organise and conduct the election and to make such arrangements as are necessary to ensure that the election is conducted honestly, justly, fairly and in accordance with law, and that corrupt practices are guarded against.”

The PTI chief asked the polls organising authority on what basis did it choose the name of Punjab interim chief minister Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi.

“Did the election commission not know about Mohsin Naqvi’s background? He played the maximum role in toppling our government. Wasn’t he with [Pakistan Peoples Party’s Co-Chairman] Asif Ali Zardari in the Sindh House. Didn’t he call Mohsin Naqvi his own son?” Khan questioned the electoral authority.

He added that his party chose the names which it thought would be acceptable by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

The former premier stated that ex-chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) investigated the caretaker CM of Pakistan’s biggest province for which the latter returned Rs3.5 million to the anti-graft body.

He raised concerns about the appointments done by Naqvi since assuming office doubting the possibility of free and fair elections in its wake. “Can we call this an impartial interim government? Police have started harassing our workers. They already have a plan made. Mohsin Naqvi has not arrived to conduct transparent elections. They want to shut down my voice.”

The PTI chairman also spoke about approaching the judiciary against the Punjab caretaker chief executive. “I appeal the judiciary to protect our basic right. The nation is expecting the judiciary to safeguard their rights and save democracy,” he said, further lamenting how the institution hasn’t done that so far.