The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) top brass seems to be against the Supreme Court’s verdict, which declared the lifetime disqualification under Article 62(1)(F) invalid.
A seven-member SC panel headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa lifted the life-time disqualification of MPs, paving the way for Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif and Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP) chief Jehangir Khan Tareen to attend of the general election to be held on February 8.
“For the reasons that will be recorded later and subject to the clarifications and explanations mentioned therein, by a majority of 6 to 1 (Yahya Afridi, J. disagrees), it is decided and declared that: i. The provisions of Article 62, paragraph 1 letter f) of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is not a self-executing provision because it does not by itself determine the court to make the declaration referred to in it, nor does it provide for any procedure for making such declaration and for any time limit for exclusion from such declaration,” read the verdict of the court issued on a day earlier.
Reacting to the verdict, PTI leader and senior lawyer Hamid Khan welcomed the verdict and said the decision will promote democracy in the country.
Speaking on Monday, said that “good and bad” in elections are decided by the voters, not the courts.
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“It will be an undemocratic act to keep any political party out of elections,” he said.
The PTI leader also hoped the courts would restore the party’s iconic election symbol of the bat, which was removed after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) declared the party’s internal polls “unconstitutional”.
Khan also expressed concern over the alleged denial of equal access to PTI candidates and said he expected the court to ensure justice in this matter as well.
However, PTI Chairman Hammad Azhar criticized the SC verdict that the “blue-eyed” were declared eligible to contest polls while those facing false cases and allegations were barred from elections.
“Those facing fake cases and only allegations cannot contest elections. But those convicted and disqualified by the Supreme Court were declared eligible for election. Wow!” he wrote on his X handle.
