ISLAMABAD: Upping the ante against Imran Khan, the Pakistan government on Monday said it has decided to ban his party on charges of illegally receiving foreign funds, involvement in riots and its alleged involvement in “anti-state” activities that will attract treason charges against the jailed former prime minister.
Announcing the unexpected move, Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Attaullah Tarar, highlighted the activities of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and its leadership to weaken the sovereignty of the country and harm its integrity at the international level.
“PTI and Pakistan cannot co-exist,” Tarar told a press conference here, saying that the matter would go to the Cabinet and the Supreme Court. He said the government has decided to ban the PTI, file a review petition in reserved seat case, and file cases against the PTI founder, former president Arif Alvi and ex-National Assembly deputy speaker Qasim Suri for subverting the Constitution.
He said strict legal action would be taken against a handful of overseas Pakistanis for anti-state activities.
The minister alleged that PTI has long been involved in anti-state activities, saying the constitution empowers the federal government to seek a ban on such a party by sending the case to the Supreme Court.
He said that the government would be justified in banning PTI over its alleged involvement in matters ranging from obtaining prohibited funding to sabotaging the IMF deal and from resettling the Taliban in Pakistan to the May 9 riots.
He said that the prohibited funding proceedings were continuously being stayed for the last six years.
“In view of the foreign funding case, May 9 riots, and the cipher episode as well as the resolution passed in the US, we believe that there is very credible evidence present to have Khan’s party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) banned,” he said.
Khan’s party reacted sharply to the government’s decision to ban the party, saying the move came “out of desperation” and was a “sign of panic” within the federal administration.
“The federal government has decided to ban PTI as a political party. Reasons cited by the information minister are the cipher case and the US Congressional Resolution on electoral rigging and politically motivated cases with no merit in sight. The PML-N is shooting its own foot for these reasons,” the PTI said in a statement.
“The PML-N is shooting its own foot for these reasons because Khan has been acquitted in the cipher case and the US congressional resolution points out the ordeal a political party has to face over the period of a few months,” the statement added. But Minister Tarar said a series of events that set off in the form of a chain, gave a clear understanding of the anti-state agenda of the PTI.