Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan is pinning all hopes on the judiciary after the country’s top judge wieghed in on the country’s political situation on Thursday.

Imran Khan spoke to a group of senior journalists at his Zaman Park residence in Lahore and said that only the judiciary could uphold the supremacy of the constitution.

He said the government was not interested in holding fresh elections and he was pinning all hopes on the judiciary for election to be held within the time period stipulated in the law.

Imran Khan also discussed a proposed all-parties conference being planned by the government to deal with the issue of terrorism following terror attacks in the country, including a major bombing earlier this month that left at least 84 people dead in Peshawar.

Khan said the PTI will decide about attending the conference but first the government needs to convene it.

He said an agreement with the IMF will unleash a new wave of inflation in the country.

The PTI chairman said that PMLN had launched Maryam Nawaz as ‘Mrs Nelson Mandela’ — or a feminine version of Mandela – but the plan had failed.

Imran Khan said Nawaz Sharif would get a better idea of his popularity once he returned to the country.

Islamabad High Court adjourned proceedings in the Tyrian White case till March 1 after Imran Khan asked for time to submit more documents.

Imran Khan’s lawyer, Salman Akram Raja, said that apart from Imran Khan needing more time to submit documents, he himslef would not be able to appear in court from February 21 to 27.

The case accuses of Imran Khan of non-declaration of his alleged daughter. The case has been filed by a citizen Muhammad Sajid, asking for Imran Khan to be disqualified. The court is still hearing arguments on whether the case is admissible or not.

The court constituted a larger bench to hear the case on February 7.

Speaking outside the court after the hearing, PML-N leader Atta Tarrar said that the case is not about Tyrian White but whether a political leader is fit for public office. He said that if issues with a politician’s degree could get him disqualified, then Imran Khan’s crime was much bigger.

He also said that Imran Khan was trying to get relief in the case on a technical basis and had used the same delaying tactics in the foreign funding case as well.

Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial said that the parliament had ‘deliberately’ been kept empty and the legislations being passed were now being seen as questionable.

He made the remarks while hearing a petition filed by PTI Chairman Imran Khan challenging amendments made to the NAB law.

The CJ also questioned why the PTI was trying to return to the parliament after having quit it in the first place. He also said that the Election Commission had said it the speaker ruling case that it would be ready to conduct elections in November 2022.

He said that the government has been in place for eight months but the country is in the grip of a political crisis. All problems will be best solved through a decision of the people, he added.

The government’s counsel Makhdoom Ali Khan said that the court should exercise caution while treating a matter of parliamentary legislation under Article 184(3) of the constitution. The article gives the courts power to question anything if it considers it to be a matter of ‘public importance with reference to the enforcement of any of the Fundamental Rights’.

However, the chief justice said that the present case was a different matter because the Imran Khan, head of a major political party, had approached the court to challenge the legislation.

Lahore High Court told the Governor Punjab and the Election Commission on Thursday to submit a reply about delay of elections in Punjab by tomorrow (Friday).

The court remarked that it would ‘sit late into the night’ if need to wrap up the case by February 13.

The ECP’s request to form a larger bench was rejected by the court.

PTI’s lawyer Ali Zafar said that the the constitution was clear on the fact that elections must be held within 90 days of the assembly’s dissolution.

The governor’s reply in court has said that the onus of announcing an election date was not on him since he was not the one who dissolved the assembly.

Speaking after the hearing, Fawad Chaudhry said the government’s attempts to run away from the elections would amount to ‘abrogating’ the constitution.

PTI leader Asad Umar said that the ECP requires 54 days to prepare for the elections, so the verdict should be announced soon so the 90-day limit would not be violated. He also said there is no legal basis for delay in elections and the responsibility for a fee and fair election falls on the ECP and the federal government is bound to assist it in whatever way required.

He added that the governor had not submitted a reply despite a six-day notice because ‘they have no answer’.

PML-N leader Rana Mashood said that the affairs of the country cannot be run on the ‘whims’ of one political party. He said that the PTI’s demand for elections was a veiled attempt to tell the world that there is political instability in Pakistan.

He added that the government has no money to conduct elections because the treasury had been emptied by the PTI government. He also said that elections can be delayed in an emergency, as they were done after Benazir Bhutto’s death.

PTI leader Amir Dogar wads presented in an anti-terrorism court in Multan on Thursday.

The leader was arrested along with around 10 workers from his residence in Multan on Wednesday. They have been accused of creating a ruckus in Election Commission’s local office.

PML-N politicians Malik Anwar and Sheikh Tariq Rasheed were also present in court.

A district and sessions court in Islamabad rejected Sheikh Rasheed’s bail application in a case filed for accusations against former President Asif Zardari.

During the hearing, Rasheed’s lawyer ended up incriminating PTI Chairman Imran Khan when he said that whatever Rasheed said was originally claimed by Imran Khan.

“But Imran Khan was never arrested,” said the lawyer before the court.

Sheikh Rasheed was arrested after he failed to appear before Islamabad police over his claims that Asif Ali Zardari was hatching a conspiracy to assassinate Imran Khan.

His post-arrest bail plea was rejected by Additional Sessions Judge Tahir Abbas Sipra on Thursday.

Rasheed’s lawyer Sardar Abdul Razzaq argued that the clauses added in the FIR against him could only be filed by the government, while the case had in fact been filed at the request of a citizen, who is also an office holder in the Pakistan People’s Party.

The politician’s other lawyer argued and questioned why a case had been created and even an arrest made on the bases of ‘information’, when no actual crime had been committed. He added that Rasheed had simply said that there was a threat to Imran Khan’s life.

The prosecution opposed the bail saying that Rasheed’s statement was ‘inflammatory’ and it had pitted Imran Khan and Asif Zardari, leaders of two major political parties, against each other.

Murre court turns down police request for remand

Meanwhile, Sheikh Rasheed was produced before a local court in Murree, a day after the Murree police won one-day transit remand and moved him to the city from Rawalpindi.

The court did not allow Murree police to more time to interrogate Rasheed and sent the former interior minister to jail on a three day judicial remand.

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The federal government has expressed an inability to provide additional funding and security personnel for the upocming provincial assembly elections in KP and Punjab.

The interior ministry has told the Election Commission of Pakistan that rangers and army cannot be appointed for election duties in view of the rising number of terror-related incidents in the country.

The ministry has also said that the security personnel are needed to assist the latest census taking place as well.

The finance ministry has also told the ECP that its request for additional funding to organise elections cannot be entertained due tot worsening economic outlook in the country.

The election commission had reportedly asked for an additional Rs15 billion to organise the elections.

The provincial assemblies in KP and Punjab were dissolved in January. However, the elections have still not been announced by the governors of both provinces, citing the ‘security situation’. Both governors have asked the ECP to consult with law enforcement agencies if elections are possible in the current sitaution.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s members of parliament reached the National Assembly, hoping to attend the session on Thursday. However, they changed their strategy after facing a technical hurdle.

The members said they would wait to receive written copies of the Lahore High Court’s verdict so the speaker would not be able to prevent them from attending the session.

The members gathered in Senator Shehzad Waseem’s chamber. They were instructed by Imran Khan to reach the parliament on Wednesday.

LHC suspended the Election Commission’s action of accepting 43 PTI resignations on Wednesday. Party leader Asad Umar had said that with the court’s relief, Raja Riaz’s days as opposition leader in the National Assembly were numbered.

PTI’s parliamentary party is in control of ‘dissident’ members led by Raja Riaz, who broke away at the time of the no-confidence vote that removed Imran Khan from government. PTI is hoping to remove Riaz from the opposition leader’s slot by resending these 43 members to the house.

On the other hand, the assembly’s officials immediately geared up to stop the PTI members from entering the house. Assembly officials have claimed that they have still not received a copy of the LHC’s verdict. They aslo said that since the court verdict only mentioned the ECP in the verdict, the speaker’s action of accepting resignations still stands.

Pakistani authorities and the International Monetary Fund have reached an agreement on most major points and a final agreement is expected to be finalised on Thursday, according to sources.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar told reporters Thursday afternoon that the government was going to announce ‘good news’ today. He said he was going to meet the IMF delegation later in the day and that the talks were ‘on the track’.

Pakistan and the IMF were holding the ‘final round’ on Thursday, he said.

The IMF team has been in Pakistan since the end of January and has engaged the country’s representatives in technical and policy level talks. The Pakistan authorities were reportedly been told that a draft of Memorandum of Economic and Fiscal Policies (MEFP) will be prepared by Wednesday night, after which it could be signed by both parties on Thursday.

The Fund’s team also called on PM Shehbaz Sharif recently, with Ishaq Dar and other senior ministers also present. Sources said that the PM assured the IMF delegation that Pakistan would fulfill its agreements to the full.

Although IMF conditions are expected to be harsh, the government has assured the fund that it will comply. State minister for finance Aisha Ghaus Pasha has still tried to assure the general public that the government will try to put as little burden on the common man as possible.

THe IMF has agreed to lower its requirement for primary fiscal deficit numbers by Rs 475 billion, but made it conditional with the the government revealing details about flood relief expenditures. It has also asked the government to make details of civil servants’ assets public.

The Fund has also asked the government to rein in circular debt by ending fuel subsidies and improving tariff collection, a step that is expected to affect the common man.