ISLAMABAD: Terming the disqualification of Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif a “big victory”, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) hopes that the latest decision of the court against the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) will help the party make its April 29 public meeting in Lahore successful.

Talking to Dawn, a jubilant PTI information secretary Fawad Chaudhry said the decision had boosted the enthusiasm of the party workers and since Sialkot was an important region in central Punjab, they were expecting participation of a larger number of party activists and workers in Lahore’s public meeting at Minar-i-Pakistan on Sunday.

Talking to the media outside the high court building soon after the decision, Fawad Chaudhry and Usman Dar, the petitioner against Khawaja Asif, said the party would “celebrate” the “landmark decision” of the court in Lahore on Sunday.

Mr Dar said that he had decided to see Khawaja Asif “thrown out of the parliament” the day he had used “abusive language” against Imran Khan on the floor of the National Assembly.

Maryam calls it a ‘fixed match’

Hailing the decision, PTI chairman Imran Khan tweeted, “Another darbari [courtier] of the godfather disqualified on the same pattern — using Iqama to shield corruption and indulge in money laundering — as well as being guilty of brazen conflict of interest.”

“Kh Asif targeted SKMTH and has been publicly humiliated here and abroad,” Mr Khan said in an apparent reference to the allegations made in the past by the former minister about misuse of the charity amount collected by the PTI chief for his cancer hospitals.

The PTI members and leaders in their messages on social media termed the court’s decision a result of Mr Asif’s bad-mouthing against the PTI leaders.

“Kh Asif ridiculed Imran Khan and Shireen Mazari on floor of the house, defamed the SKMH and insulted Pakistani public after Panama Papers too. What went around is finally coming around,” says a tweet from a PTI activist.

On the other hand, Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, responded through a tweet, stating that “when you cannot defeat someone in election, you disqualify him in a fixed match. But remember, people will vote even for the shadow of Khawaja Asif”.

Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Sherry Rehman, while speaking at a news conference, urged the PML-N to respect the court’s verdict.

“We have nothing against Khawaja Asif. We are concerned about Pakis­tan’s image that has been so horribly tarnished by this government’s disappointing economic policies and seemingly aimless foreign policy,” she said.

Ms Rehman, who is also PPP’s vice president, said that during the PPP’s government, former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had also been disqualified, but “we gracefully respected the court verdict”.

In the past, she said, the PPP faced many tough verdicts but “we never mocked the courts”.

“Instead of accepting court verdicts, the PML-N has resorted to mocking state institutions. The government must focus on more important issues such as appointing a new foreign minister immediately,” she added.

Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2018