President Asif Ali Zardari has given an encouraging response to banning PTI, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar has said as consultation with the ruling allies still under way.
“There is clarity on this [banning PTI]. In principle, it was a decision which I as the government spokesperson announced,” he said while appearing on News Insight with Amir Zia aired on Aaj News on Thursday.
Earlier this month, the information minister announced the federal government’s decision to move a case in the apex court to ban Imran Khan’s PTI because of its “anti-country” actions. The PML-N intends to invoke Article 17 of the Constitution, allowing the government to ban political parties.
Tarar had stated that the foreign funding case, May 9 riots, cipher episode, and a Congress resolution in the US parliament on Pakistan’s elections were credible evidence for the government to ban PTI.
But the next day Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar and Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that no final decision yet on the decision and coalition partners would be consulting before any development.
Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar also spoke on the same wavelength when he appeared on Spotlight with Munizae Jahangir.
According to the information minister, consultation and legal homework were necessary before a final decision. He agreed with what his fellow cabinet members stated after his presser.
“Yes, consultation is under way and the president has an encouraging response to it. We think that hopefully it can be implemented in the future,” Tarar.
He added that it was the government’s prerogative to make decisions.
When asked, he said that the PML-N’s review petition against the reserved seats ruling should be fixed “immediately” so that the Supreme Court could response to questions.
He was of the view that the PTI was a “terrorist” party as the former ruling party allegedly disturbed law and order and spoke about dividing the country. “No political party is bigger than Pakistan.”
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Tarar added that there was a consensus on counterterrorism operation Azm-i-Istehkam and expressed willingness to present it in the public domain if required.
“When we sit in the party, so I think there are many people in the discussion. It was a collective decision,” he said when asked who proposed the idea to ban PTI.
The information minister added that the information ministry would soon give a policy statement on a firewall being installed to filter “undesirable” content from the Pakistani internet.
