 senior vice president Fawad Chaudhry){kind=link}
Fawad: Govt plans to arrest Imran Khan before elections. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior vice president Fawad Chaudhry has declared that the PML-N-led government was scheduling to arrest party chairman Imran Khan before holding general elections.
The previous information minister made these explanations while talking to journalists outside the Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan after the proceedings of suo motu notice regarding a delay in the notice of the date for holding elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
Fawad Chaudhry mentioned the apex court for taking suo motu notice of stay in the declaration of polls, saying the judiciary’s involvement was the way to resolve the matter following the refusal of the governors to declare the date.
Calling the Supreme Court, the ‘savior of the Constitution’, the PTI leader said that their primary job was to protect the Constitution and asked the ruling PDM’s leaders to not make the apex court a part of public argument.
Fawad Chaudhry additionally said throughout the hearing of the suo motu case, the PML-N also employed its “old tactics to divide the Supreme Court”. “If elections are late beyond 90 days it will shake the foundations of the Constitution,” he said, hoping that the court’s verdict will be based on Constitution.
Talking of the proceedings, Fawad noted that the bench considered who has the constitutional responsibility for assigning the date for the holding of a general election to a provincial assembly, upon its closure. “All the lawyers maintained that the elections held within 90 days”, he added.
“The judge suggested that the matter resolved by consensus”, he said, adding that the PTI also required the same. Though, he said, the government was planning to arrest Imran Khan before holding elections.
“The government thinks that Nawaz Sharif’s convictions overturned,” he said, asking how can there be a consensus on such a demand of the government. “The election held as per the constitution and not by consensus”, he added.
Previously in the day, the Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan kept the verdict in the suo motu proceedings about the delay in the notice of the date for holding elections for Punjab and KP assemblies and will announce it tomorrow at 11 am.
Later hearing the arguments, the Supreme Court (SC) kept the decision and said that it would declare the verdict in the election date suo motu case tomorrow at 11 pm.
A five-member bench headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and including Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Shah, and Justice Mandokhail is hearing the case. Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial allowed the lawyers for assisting the court on the matter.
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Previously in the day, the court gave PTI and the coalition government until 4 pm to sit together and come up with election dates in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab. Though, a mutually agreed-upon date not found.