ISLAMABAD: Asad Mahmood, the minister for communications, on Thursday rejected attempts to reach an understanding with Imran Khan, the leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), on any political matter and called for the opening of a legal case against him for constitutional violations.
He said in the National Assembly, “No one should be allowed to violate the Constitution. “The judiciary is facilitating an accused person who does not bother to attend court proceedings, rather he has been given the opportunity to mark his court attendance while sitting in his car,” the minister claimed. In response to an appeal from all political parties regarding the creation of a full court, he said justice had not been served by the three-member bench decision of the Supreme Court regarding the delay in the Punjab elections.
He reiterated the demand for the full-court bench to settle the matters about elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Asad said the coalition parties had not demanded a decision in their own favour or against Imran Khan but wanted a full court bench to hear the case. He said questions would arise on the transparency of elections in Punjab in the presence of a political government at the Center.
The solution to the prevailing constitutional, political, and legal complications was in holding the elections simultaneously across the country and that also in a free and fair manner, he remarked. “All institutions will have to remain in their domains to ensure the supremacy of the Constitution,” the minister maintained.
He said the country had been facing unprecedented challenges for the last many years but it stood firm and resolute, but today the nation had been divided, which was not good. Asad said the provincial assemblies of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were dissolved at the whims of one person (Imran Khan) who just wanted to satisfy his ego.
