ISLAMABAD: A petition has been filed with the Sup­reme Court to order the PTI leaders to rejoin the Natio­nal Assembly as their abs­ence has provided “a free-hand” to the current government to pass laws for its benefit.

The petition, filed by a citizen named Engineer Qazi Muhammad Saleem from Peshawar, has reque­sted the Chief Justice to initiate a suo motu hearing as the PTI’s decision has deprived millions of voters of their fundamental rights.

The petitioner stated that he was “concerned and ext­r­e­mely worried” about the dis­respect shown towards the democratic norms which may adversely affect the fra­gile economy of the country.

The PTI was the single largest party in the National Assembly before its lawma­k­ers resigned en masse after party’s Chairman Imran Khan was removed as prime minister through a vote of no-confidence in April.

Petitioner seeks suo motu on mass resignations; claims move violated rights of voters

The petition argued that the “non-democratic reaction” by the PTI has stunned millions of voters in the constituencies from where its leaders were elected.

The petition argued that participation of PTI members in the lower house cou­ld have re-elected the PTI chairman as the prime minister through another no confidence motion against the current government.

He alleged that the abs­e­nce of a major political party from the assembly has allo­wed the PDM-led government to unanimously pass a record number of laws to provide legal cover to a number of leaders who were facing allegations of corruption.

Some of the amendments in the accountability law have turned the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) into “non accountability bureau,” the petitioner remarked.

He also urged the court to ask the National Assembly speaker National Assembly to justify why he accepted the resignations of only 11 members and not of all PTI lawmakers.

The decision to contest by-elections on nine constituencies, that were vacated after the resignations were accepted, by PTI Chairman Imran Khan has established that he wields considerable popularity among masses.

However, the petitioner argued that the move to resign from the assembly and also contest the polls appeared contradictory.

The petition recalled the Islamabad High Court (IHC) advice to the PTI chairman to return back to the assembly which was also endorsed by the Supreme Court on Sept 22. Moreover, President Arif Alvi had also admitted that it was not a wise decision to resign from the assembly.He argued that at a time when the country was facing the prospects of a default the move to bypass the assembly was an undemocratic action which would create a vacuum that will have to be filled by the country’s most powerful non-political stakeholder.

This always weakens the democratic set up, the petitioner added.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2022