PTI’s spokesperson Shoaib Shaheen has said that party leaders have been deprived of a right to breathe in the country let alone a level- playing field in the political environment.

“Sheikh Rasheed is still missing. The same is with Farrukh Habib, whose whereabouts are not known while members of his family were produced three days after they were picked up,” he told Shaukat Paracha on Rubaroo.

He claimed that PTI leader Sadaqat Ali Abbasi was taken to a media house for an interview which was not aired.

“The next day, he was taken to meet his family, and a video of the meeting was given to media. And the same people who brought him took him to an unknown location,” Shaheen said.

For him, the PTI leaders are not produced before the court within 24 hours of their arrest as per the Constitution. He went on to say that even party leaders are taken to media houses to give forced interviews instead of a legal process.

“There were hundreds of Usman Dar’s tweets and statements before and after the May 9 riots. He was arrested and presented in a TV anchor’s show after 25 days,” he added.

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Justice (retd) Shaiq Usmani said that the May 9 riots should not be used to take PTI out of politics or implement a minus one formula.

“Without a doubt, things were done which were against the interest of the country. Those responsible for carrying out such activities should be punished but the eligible ones should be allowed to contest elections,” he added.

Talking about the statements of PPP’s Bilawal Zardari and JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on PTI’s participation, Justice Usmani said that such statements have been given with a purpose to ensure the participation of all political parties in the elections.

Legal expert Hasan Raza Pasha welcomed Zardari and Rehman’s statement regarding the PTI’s participation in the upcoming elections.

“They realised that free and fair elections are the need of the hour. I expect the PTI leaders to appreciate such statements and to go for reconciliation,” he added.

Pasha called for grand dialogue between political parties to overcome the difference, saying that such statements are a step ahead towards reconciliation efforts.