Islamabad: Banning Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf is a failed experiment that will not stand before the Supreme Court, said lawyers and political analysts in the country. As for the papers, they have called the ruling government desperate for power. Some even added that the move is unconstitutional.
The decision to ban the party was announced by information minister Attatulah Tarar Monday and is being seen as “an attempt to prevent the PTI from becoming the single largest party in the National Assembly.”
Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir told ThePrint that many parties were banned in Pakistan—even PTI once banned Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP)—but all banned parties are active today with different names.
“This experiment failed in Pakistan again and again. It will only increase the popularity of Imran Khan,” he said.
The decision to ban PTI follows two significant developments benefiting the party: The Supreme Court’s ruling that declared the party eligible for reserved seats and the overturning of Imran Khan’s conviction in the Iddat case. As a result of the court’s judgment, the PTI is set to become the largest party in the National Assembly.
Muhammad Pansota, an advocate at the Supreme Court of Pakistan said that the decision to ban PTI will not sustain before the country’s highest court. He was involved in getting the media ban on Khan removed.
“This decision falls under Section 232 of the Elections Act, which allows the federal government to make a reference to the Supreme Court if a political party’s actions are deemed detrimental to Pakistan’s interests,” Pansota said.
However, Pansota said that the federal government can only act on two grounds: either a recommendation from the Election Commission of Pakistan or credible information. He added that the information being cited currently lacks validity as it relies on unresolved cases with no convictions.
“Without convictions, how can one assert that a party has engaged in any misconduct? The reference must be submitted to the Supreme Court within 15 days, which will determine if a ban is warranted. Banning a political party today is an extreme measure unlikely to receive approval from the Court, as it contravenes Article 17 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to form associations.”
A ‘desperate’ government
In its editorial, Dawn wrote, “It is dangerous for a government to appear so desperate … In their obsession with countering the resurgent PTI, the ruling parties are, wittingly or unwittingly, pushing the country towards even more chaos and anarchy instead of accepting ground realities and working around them.”
PTI took to social media and called on the current government to not ‘shake the foundations of Pakistan’.
“General Asim Munir and his puppet government’s mood is increasing after the process of returning the public mandate of Tehreek-e-Insaaf, which was given on February 8, after which they started daydreaming about banning Tehreek-e-Insaf. General Asim Munir, take care and do not shake the foundations of Pakistan by stopping playing with the constitution any more,” the X post read.
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What political parties say
The federal government’s decision to ban PTI has faced widespread criticism from various political parties, too.
PPP, ANP, JUI-F, and Jamaat-i-Islami, condemned the move and called it ‘undemocratic’. PPP also said that they were not consulted before the move.
Rights groups like the Human Rights Commission Pakistan (HRCP) condemned the ban as a violation of constitutional rights.
Lawyer Salaar Khan said that the decision is a reaction to the Supreme Court’s recent verdict declaring PTI-backed candidates’ victories as PTI’s.
“This was very significant as, prior to this, many of these seats were declared to be ‘independent’ seats, with some even having been distributed amongst rival political parties, including the ruling coalition.”
Pakistani politics hasn’t stabilised lately after the removal of Imran Khan as the Prime Minister in 2022. And the question of power distribution between the establishment and the parties remains unsettled.
Khan added that the decision to ban the PTI reflects a clear escalation and seems a desperate attempt to suppress the party’s popularity in the face of the government’s successive failures.
“Interestingly, it was the Supreme Court that spurred this with its recent decision and now—as so often happens—it is the Supreme Court that will also consider the question of dissolution.”
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)