The story so far: Pakistan’s government, on July 15, announced its plan to ban Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the party of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, for alleged anti-state activities. The 71-year-old cricketer-turned-politician, who lost a vote of no-confidence in 2022 and was ousted from his Prime Ministerial post, has been lodged at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi since August 2023, in connection with various cases.

In a press conference, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar announced, “In view of the foreign funding case, the May 9 riots, and the cypher episode as well as the resolution passed in the U.S., we believe that there is very credible evidence present to have Khan’s party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), banned”.

He added that the government will file cases against Mr. Khan and former Pakistan president Arif Alvi for treason under Article 6. “Our patience and tolerance are considered as our weaknesses. The PTI and Pakistan cannot co-exist as the government is trying to stabilise the country politically and economically, while efforts are being made to thwart its efforts,” Mr. Tarar said. A petition will be filed for the same in Pakistan’s apex court, he added.

The surprising move comes mere days after a 13-judge bench of the country’s Supreme Court ruled that PTI was eligible for seats reserved for women and minorities in the national and provincial assemblies. PTI had approached the apex court after the Peshwar High Court and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had disallowed PTI-backed candidates who had won these reserved seats in the elections held in February.

The PTI, which had been stripped off its iconic ‘bat’ electoral symbol by the ECP, fielded its candidates as independents in the national elections in February. Of the 272 seats in direct contest, PTI-backed Independents won 92 seats, emerging as the largest bloc, but fell short of a majority. With the SC validation of the PTI winners from reserved seats, the bloc, which has now aligned itself with the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC,) will be the largest party in the National Assembly with 109 seats.

Here’s a look at why PTI may be banned and what happens next

Why is PTI being banned?

In April 2022, the Opposition coalition led by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) moved a vote of no confidence against Imran Khan in the National Assembly, accusing him of corruption, economic mismanagement, depletion of foreign exchange reserves and soaring inflation. Mr. Khan claimed a “foreign conspiracy” was seeking to oust him due to his “independent foreign policy,” saying that a senior U.S. diplomat was involved in it. Then-Speaker Asad Qaiser called for a vote but then-Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri (who is associated with PTI) dismissed the motion on the day of voting, deeming it unconstitutional.

Fearing a trust vote loss, Mr. Khan advised the then-President Arif Alvi to dissolve the Assembly and prepare for fresh polls. This dissolution was termed unconstitutional by the SC and a 13-hour-long trust vote was held, which culminated in Mr. Khan’s ouster as 174 lawmakers of the 342-member Assembly voted in support of the no-confidence motion. Shehbaz Sharif, leader of the PML-N and brother of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, took over as the Prime Minister.

After Mr. Khan’s ouster, former Pakistani ambassador to the U.S., Asad Majeed, who had authored a cypher sent to Islamabad in 2022, clarified that there was no threat. Mr. Khan had touted this cypher as a base for his claims that a “foreign conspiracy” was trying to topple to his government.

Citing these actions, the current government has decided to move a case against Mr. Khan, Mr. Alvi and Mr. Suri for treason. “You tried to damage the country’s diplomatic relations for the sake of your political interests and went on to get a resolution passed against Pakistan in the U.S,” said Mr. Tarar.

On May 9, 2023, Mr. Khan was arrested in connection with a corruption case while he was appearing in an Islamabad court. His arrest led to deadly riots across Pakistan, with scores of his supporters taking to the streets, vandalising at least a dozen military installations including the ISI building in Faisalabad, and pelting stones at the police. PTI blamed the Pakistan Army for orchestrating his arrest. The Army cracked down heavily on the protestors, arresting them and trying them in military courts.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court deemed Mr. Khan’s arrest illegal, giving him temporary relief. His reprieve was short-lived, as police arrested Mr. Khan in Lahore after he was sentenced to a three-year jail term for illegally selling state gifts.

Mr. Khan has been also charged for leaking state secrets by publicising the cypher communication between the government and the embassy. In total, Mr. Khan faces a hundred cases; he has been convicted and acquitted in some cases, and been barred from contesting elections for five years.

The current government has used these cases as the bulwark of its decision to ban PTI and charge Mr. Khan and top PTI leaders with treason. It claims that the riots and the attempts by several PTI leaders to sabotage Pakistan’s deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has forced its hand.

What are the reactions?

The decision to ban PTI has been criticised by parties across the political spectrum.

Accusing the government of punishing the PTI for being declared as the largest party in the Assembly, Leader of Opposition Omar Ayub Khan claimed that the government wanted to scare 240 million people through coercion, intimidation and harassment, according to Dawn report.

Asserting that PTI was not one to be intimated, he said that it would not be possible to crush the most popular political party with blind force nor could any positive outcome be expected from it.

Similarly, PPP, a coalition partner of PML-N, has distanced itself from the move, claiming its leadership was not consulted. PPP veteran Mian Raza Rabbani said that the banning of a political party by the government was against all norms of democracy. “Since the country is already facing grave economic and political instability, such a step will add political chaos and bog down the economy,” said Mr. Rabbani in a statement, adding, “The step of banning a political party in Pakistan’s history has always been unsuccessful and been thrown into the dustbin of history.”

Other political parties like Awami National Party, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, and Jamaat-i-Islami too have rubbished the move, terming it ‘childish’ and ‘unconstitutional’ and saying that the move will not stand in court. Even the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has criticised the decision, say that it ‘reeks of political desperation.’

The US State department has maintained that while it opposes such restrictions, the announcement to ban PTI was part of a ‘complex political process,’ reported Dawn. “As those internal processes continue to play out, we will monitor these decisions and any further decisions,” said its spokesperson. India has not yet released any statement on this issue.

Precedent to political parties’ ban in Pakistan

Since its formation in 1947, democracy in Pakistan has been interspersed with Army regimes. However, even when a democratically elected government has been in power, political parties have faced bans, finds an analysis by Dawn.

In 1954, the Communist Party of Pakistan was banned for its alleged involvement in a military coup planned by Major General Akbar Khan to topple the first government in independent Pakistan headed by Liaquat Ali Khan.

The Awami League, a breakaway Bengali faction of the All India Muslim League formed in 1954, steadily gained popularity in East Pakistan and swept all but two seats in the 1970 elections. The military government headed by General Yahya Khan banned the party, leading to protests, war, genocide and eventually the birth of Bangladesh.

Two parties — Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM) and the Awami National Party — which are still in existence, have seen factions being banned.

The National Awami Party, founded in 1957, first faced a ban in 1958 when General Ayub Khan imposed martial law. Once the ban was lifted in 1962, it splintered into factions, with the NAP-Wali emerging as the biggest one. In 1975, the PPP government led by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto banned the parent party NAP for backing Baloch separatists. Its faction NAP-Wali re-emerged as the Awami National Party (ANP) and is now in alliance with the PPP.

JSQM’s faction led by Abdul Wahid Aresar was banned in 2020 by the Imran Khan government for its alleged links with Sindh separatist militant outfits – Sindhu Desh Revolution Army (SRA) and Sindhu Desh Liberation Army (SLA) – who routinely carried out attacks on military personnel, police etc.

Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), founded in 2015, is one of the recent outfits to be banned due to its violent protests and blatant support for Mumtaz Qadri – an commando who assassinated former Punjab governor Salman Taseer. While it was initially banned in April 2021, the ban was lifted by the Imran Khan government in October 2021 after its protests ground Islamabad to a halt. The party’s popularity has diminished after its founder Khadim Rizvi died.

What will be PTI’s fate?

In the wake of backlash by several of its alliance partners, the PML-N leadership has toned out its attack on PTI. A senior PML-N leader has clarified that no final decision has been made regarding a permanent ban on PTI, reported Dawn.

“We need to consult our leadership and allies in this regard. Any decision to ban PTI will be made in accordance with the law and Constitution,” said Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar. As per Pakistan Constitution’s Article 17, the final decision to ban a political party rests with the Supreme Court.

“The Supreme Court is unlikely to ratify a ban on the PTI as it has already declared PTI as a political party,” says geopolitical analyst Aishwaria Sonavane. Noting the popularity Mr. Khan currently enjoys, she adds, “A ban will only foment public sympathy for Imran Khan. Also bans have proven futile in eliminating public support and will lead to further political instability”.

While Mr. Khan’s political future hangs in the balance due to his legal troubles, PTI’s future as a political force seems stronger. With the recent favourable SC rulings and Pakistan’s own historical failure to snuff out political parties completely, it seems that PTI’s vast public support will help in its continued existence as PTI or as another political party – similar to the ANP.

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf will be banned for its alleged involvement in anti-state activities, the government said Monday.

“The government has decided that the federal government will move a case to ban the PTI (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf),” Information Minister Attaullah Tarar told reporters in Islamabad. The case would be taken to the Supreme Court, he added.

There is clear evidence to impose restrictions on the PTI and the government would initiate proceedings against the party, said Mr Tarar.

Mr Khan, 71, had formed PTI in 1996, which came to power in 2018. Mr Khan served as prime minister from 2018 to 2022, when he was ousted after falling out with the military establishment, which wields huge influence over civilian politics.

Mr Khan was banned from running in the February election due to a graft conviction.

Despite the setbacks, candidates loyal to PTI secured more seats than any other party, but were kept from power by the alliance pact.

A spokesperson for the PTI told news agency AFP that the party “will not tolerate” the government’s effort to ban it.

“PTI has become stronger than before. We will face it,” Raoof Hasan said.

In a landmark ruling on Friday, the Supreme Court granted the PTI more parliamentary seats, after party members were forced to run as independents in the February 8 election.

Mr Khan’s conviction for illegal marriage — which carried a seven-year sentence — was then overturned by an Islamabad court on Saturday but he remains jailed over other cases.

A UN panel of experts found this month that Mr Khan’s detention “had no legal basis and appears to have been intended to disqualify him from running for political office”.

(With agency inputs)

One police officer was killed and more than 100 people, mostly policemen, were injured in violent clashes between security forces and protesters agitating against high prices of wheat flour and electricity in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, media reports said on May 12.

The region witnessed clashes on May 11 between the police and activists of a rights movement amid a wheel-jam and shutter-down strike across the territory, the Dawn newspaper reported.

Mirpur Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kamran Ali told Dawn.com that sub-inspector Adnan Qureshi succumbed to a gunshot wound in the chest in the town of Islamgarh, where he was deployed along with other police personnel to stop a rally for Muzaffarabad via Kotli and Poonch districts under the banner of the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC).

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Protesters demand subsidised wheat flour, lower electricity rates

The JAAC, which has traders at the forefront in most parts of the State, has been seeking the provision of electricity as per hydropower generation cost in the region, subsidised wheat flour and an end to the privileges of the elite class.

The regional government called in the Rangers and a heavy contingent of policemen to stop the demonstrations.

Mobile phone and internet services were suspended in different parts of the PoK on May 12, including Bhimber and Bagh Towns, Geo News reported. In Mirpur, all the mobile networks and internet service have been suspended, it added.

PM Shehbaz Sharif “deeply concerned”

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has called an emergency meeting related to the situation in the region at the President’s House on Monday, said sources.

They added that the president instructed stakeholders to bring proposals to resolve the issue. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on May 12 said that he was “deeply concerned” about the situation in PoK.

“Unfortunately, in situations of chaos and dissent, there are always some who rush in to score political points. While debate, discussion and peaceful protests are the beauties of democracy, there should be absolutely no tolerance for taking the law in one’s own hands and damaging government properties,” he said in a post on X.

He said that he had spoken to PoK “prime minister” Chaudhry Anwarul Haq and directed his party’s office bearers in the region to talk to the leaders of the action committee. He called for peace and said, “Despite best efforts of detractors, the matter will hopefully be settled soon.”

Violent clashes rock PoK

On May 8 and May 9, around 70 JAAC activists were arrested by police during raids at their residences and those of their relatives in Muzaffarabad and Mirpur divisions, triggering serious clashes in Dadyal on May 9.

The committee had subsequently announced a shutter-down and wheel-jam strike on May 10, a day ahead of its planned long march towards Muzaffarabad Saturday.

Amid a crippling strike on May 10, violent clashes took place between police and protesters in different areas of Muzaffarabad, the capital of PoK.

On May 11, authorities placed mounds of earth on arteries leading to Muzaffarabad, apart from making more arrests, to prevent people from heading towards the city.

Witnesses said that Muzaffarabad division and Poonch division observed complete strikes.

SSP Yasin Baig said at least one police officer and a young boy were injured as police resorted to teargas shelling and aerial firing in some neighbourhoods after stones and bottles were pelted by protesters.

Kotli SSP Mir Muhammad Abid said that at least 78 policemen were injured in the district in “attacks of miscreants under the guise of protest”.

The SSP said 59 policemen, including Deputy Superintendent of Police Ilyas Janjua, and two revenue department officials were injured in Rehaan Galli while another 19 policemen were injured in Sehnsa Baroiyan.

A press release from the District Headquarters Hospital Kotli said apart from the 59 wounded policemen, nine injured protesters were also brought for treatment.

Mr. Abid said some police officials were also reportedly injured in Doliya Jattan.

 A total of 29 protesters were injured in the clashes, according to Geo News.

JAAC spokesperson Hafeez Hamdani said that the action committee had nothing to do with violence. “It seems that such elements have been purposely planted in the ranks of protesters to bring a bad name to a struggle that aims nothing but the legitimate rights of the people,” he said.

PoK’s so-called Prime Minister Haq said that the government was ready to give related relief to electricity and wheat flour prices after violent protests in Mirpur killed one officer and injured over 70 others.

“The government held negotiations with the Awami Action Committee (AAC) and we reached an agreement which we are determined to implement,” Geo News quoted Mr. Haq as saying.

Addressing a press conference on May 11, PoK Finance Minister Abdul Majid Khan said the government had exercised “maximum restraint and is ready for talks to peacefully address all contentious issues.

“Issues have to be resolved through dialogue and our doors are always open for negotiations. But the offer should not be misconstrued as a weakness of the government,” he said.

He said the government had accepted all demands of the action committee after which an agreement was signed between the committee and government negotiators, including the provision of targeted subsidy on flour and freezing the electricity tariff on June 2022 levels, but the committee later deviated from the agreement and announced a protest on new demands.

Authorities have banned public gatherings, rallies, and processions in all districts in the wake of protests, with Section 144 imposed in the entire region.

Representational image of Pakistan Supreme Court
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The ruling coalition led by the Pakistan Muslim League -Nawaz (PML-N) in Pakistan’s Punjab has been jolted as the provincial assembly’s speaker restrained 27 lawmakers on reserved seats after the Supreme Court’s ruling suspending a lower court’s verdict denying the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) its share of reserved seats for women and minorities, according to media reports.

Speaker Malik Mohammad Ahmed Khan issued the ruling barring the women and non-Muslim members appointed to the reserved seats via past notifications of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), The Express Tribune newspaper reported.

According to the ruling, they cannot function as members or partake in assembly proceedings until their status is clarified by either the ECP or the Supreme Court.

Of the suspended MPAs, 23 belong to the PML-N, two to the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and one each to Pakistan Muslim League -Quaid-e-Azam Group (PML-Q) and Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP), the Dawn newspaper reported.

The decision by the speaker was taken on a point of order raised a day ago by opposition lawmaker Rana Aftab of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed SIC during the house proceedings.

Mr. Aftab had argued that the apex court had suspended the decision of the ECP of allocating the reserved seats of the SIC to other parties on the plea that the SIC had neither contested elections nor had submitted a list of nominees for the seats reserved for women and minorities.

But Speaker Mr. Khan ruled that he had sought the opinions of the advocate general as well as the provincial law department and would take a decision only on receiving their reports, the Dawn reported.

After the beginning of the house proceedings on May 10, the speaker soon read out the SC order and gave the ruling that Mr. Aftab’s point of order was lawful and suspended the 27 members immediately.

When Mr. Aftab pointed out that the suspended MPAs had unlawfully voted for the resolution condemning the May 9 violence, the chair said he should have raised the issue when the resolution had been put to vote a day ago.

The Supreme Court’s decision and the Punjab Assembly speaker’s action puts the ruling coalition in the National Assembly in a dilemma as it is set to lose nearly two dozen members ahead of the crucial budget session.

President Asif Ali Zardari on May 10 summoned the National Assembly session on May 13 and the SIC members are expected to seek a similar ruling from Speaker Ayaz Sadiq.

The ECP had allocated reserved seats to the parties in the National Assembly in proportion to the general seats won by them in the February 8 elections.

The ECP had withheld the notifications on 23 reserved seats — 20 for women and three for minorities — due to the dispute on the allocation of the seats after the decision of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed independents to join the SIC, the report said.

Later, the ECP refused to allocate these seats to the SIC and issued notifications distributing these seats to the parties in the ruling coalition headed by the PML-N.

The ECP allocated 15 seats reserved for women to the PML-N, four to PPP and one to the JUI-F. It allocated one seat each reserved for the minorities to the PML-N, the PPP and the MQM-P.

As a result, PML-N became the largest party in the National Assembly with 123 seats while the tally of the PPP and the JUI-F rose to 73 and 11, respectively, the report said.

Islamabad:

Pakistan’s leading right-wing Islamic leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Monday came out in support of his erstwhile rival Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, saying the opposition party has the right to hold rallies and even form a government.

Rehman, the chief of his faction of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F), made a blistering speech in the National Assembly, slamming the powerful establishment for allegedly rigging the political system.

“It is the right of the PTI to hold a rally,” he said. “We also objected to the 2018 election and we object to this (February 8 polls) one too. If the 2018 poll was rigged, why is the current one not rigged?” he asked.

PTI leader Asad Qaiser had demanded the party’s right to organise a rally. “The demand of Asad Qaiser is correct and it is the right of PTI to hold a rally,” Rehman said in his speech.

Rehman urged the ruling coalition of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) and the Pakistan Peoples Party to allow the PTI to form the government if it enjoyed a majority in the parliament.  

“Leave this power. Come and sit here [on the opposition benches], and if the PTI is indeed the larger group, then give them the government,” he said.

The cleric then expressed his dismay over the role of the establishment and bureaucracy in election and running the country.

“The establishment and bureaucracy had no role in achieving this country,” he said.

He alleged that the elections held on Feb 8 were not fair but flawed.

“What kind of election is this where the losers are not satisfied and the winners are upset?” he said.

He drew parallels with neighbouring India. “Just compare India and ourselves… both countries got independence on the same day. But today they (India) are dreaming of becoming a superpower and we are begging to avoid bankruptcy,” he said.

While India is inching closer to become a Global Superpower, Pakistan is begging before the world to save it from devastation.

[Pakistan’s Parliament] pic.twitter.com/i3ZNA3kQaN

— kanishka Dadhich (@KanishkaDadhich) April 29, 2024

He said that decisions are made by somebody else but politicians are blamed for the problems.

Rehman also lamented the failure to implement recommendations from the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), emphasising the importance of upholding Islamic principles.

“We got the country in the name of Islam, but today we have become a secular state. Since 1973, not a single recommendation of the CII has been implemented. How can we be an Islamic country?” he said.

The CCI is a constitutional body set up to help Islamize the laws.

He also said that Pakistan was begging the International Monetary Fund to avoid bankruptcy.

pic.twitter.com/KGHZhhVB18

— Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman (@MoulanaOfficial) April 29, 2024

The JUI-F was the arch-rival of PTI and had spearheaded the move for the ouster of Imran Khan. After his downfall, JUI-F became part of the coalition government. However, he parted ways with the PML-N and PPP after the elections as he alleged that the polls were rigged to keep his party out of power.

It is believed by many that by supporting the PTI, the cleric is putting pressure on the establishment and the government to cut a deal to get a bigger share in the spoils of politics than his potential.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

File photo of Maryam Nawaz.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has once again landed in trouble, as the Session Court has been moved against her for donning a police uniform while attending a passing-out parade on April 25, according to ARY News.

In his plea, the plaintiff claimed that Ms. Nawaz’s wearing of a police official’s uniform was “unlawful.” The plea stated that no one is permitted to wear the official state institution outfit. The petitioner said that despite Ms. Nawaz’s plea to the police, no action was taken against her.

The petitioner begged the judge to provide instructions to file a complaint against Ms. Nawaz, the Chief Minister of Punjab. The case’s hearing was postponed by the Court until April 29, as per ARY News.

Wearing the uniform, Punjab Chief Minister (CM) MS. Nawaz, notably participated in a police passing-out parade in Lahore. The Chief Minister of Punjab bestowed a guard of honour and presented awards to the Police Training College’s outstanding achievers, reported ARY News.

Notably, Ms. Nawaz, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) nominee, had made history by becoming Punjab’s first female Chief Minister. She secured 220 votes in the election, triumphing over her opponent, Rana Aftab Ahmad of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), who received zero votes due to a boycott by SIC members.

The Punjab Assembly session, presided over by newly-elected Speaker Malik Ahmad Khan, witnessed opposition members from the Sunni Ittehad Council boycotting the proceedings. Speaker Mr. Khan declared that only elections for the Chief Minister would take place, and no lawmakers were permitted to speak during the session, according to ARY News.

File photo of Pakistan Peoples Party co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari. He was elected as the Pakistan’s 14th President becoming the head of state for second time.
| Photo Credit: AP

Pakistan Peoples Party co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari was elected as Pakistan’s 14th President on March 9, becoming the head of state for a second time.

Mr. Zardari, 68, was the joint candidate of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) while his rival Mahmood Khan Achakzai, 75, was the candidate of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).

The new President was elected by the electoral college of the newly elected members of the National Assembly and the four provincial assemblies, as per the provisions of the Constitution.

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A businessman-turned-politician, Mr. Zardari is the husband of slain Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

He received 255 votes while his opponent got 119, Pakistani media reported.

Mr. Zardari would replace the incumbent Dr Arif Alvi, whose five-year term ended last year. However, he has continued since the new electoral college was not yet formed.

Mr. Zardari, who served as the president from 2008 to 2013, will also be the first civilian to be elected for the second time as president.

Achakzai is the head of his Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) and was contesting from the platform of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), which came to prominence after independent candidates backed by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) joined it.

Pakistan’s former PM Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi. File
| Photo Credit: AP

Jailed ex-Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party has submitted a resolution in the Senate calling for the release of the incarcerated leader, his wife Bushra, his close aide, Shah Mahmood Qureshi and other leaders, saying “political vendetta” has destroyed the country’s economy and reputation.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Mr. Khan, 71, and senior party leader and former Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, 67, have been lodged at the high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi in various cases.

Submitted by party Senator Falak Naz Chitrali, the resolution calls for the release of the PTI party leaders, alleging that they were convicted under “false cases”, the Dawn newspaper reported.

“Political vendetta has destroyed the country’s economy and reputation,” the resolution read.

It also called for the release of PTI stalwart Dr. Yasmin Rashid, Mr. Khan’s wife Ms. Bushra Bibi and other women leaders of the party, as well as journalists.

The party submitted a similar resolution in the National Assembly on March 5.

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Last month, Mr. Khan and his wife, Ms. Bushra Bibi, were sentenced to seven years imprisonment in an “un-Islamic” marriage or Iddat case.

In January, the PTI founding chairman and his wife were sentenced to 14 years imprisonment each for corruption on charges of illegally selling state gifts.

Earlier, the former-cricketer-turned-politician was also sentenced to 10 years in prison by a special court for leaking sensitive state secrets.

Mr. Khan and Mr. Qureshi were also handed down a jail term of 10 years in the cipher case.

The cipher case pertains to a piece of paper, purported to be a diplomatic cable — the cipher — that Mr. Khan had waved at a public rally on March 27, 2022, and naming the U.S., had claimed that it was ‘evidence’ of an “international conspiracy” to topple his government.

The Federal Investigation Agency filed the case against Mr. Khan and Mr. Qureshi on August 15 last year, which accused both of violating the secrecy laws while handling the cable sent by the Pakistan embassy in Washington in March 2022. Mr. Khan and Mr. Qureshi have also been barred from politics for five years.

Dozens of cases have been registered against Mr. Khan since his government was toppled through a no-trust vote in April 2022.

Maryam Nawaz.
| Photo Credit: AP

“The selection of Maryam Nawaz as the Chief Minister of the Punjab province is a milestone in Pakistani politics,” the U.S. has said, asserting that it looks forward to cooperating with Islamabad on integrating women more fully into the country’s political life.

Maryam, the 50-year-old daughter of three-time former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, took oath as the first-ever woman Chief Minister of Pakistan’s most populous and politically crucial Punjab province last week.

“Her [Maryam Nawaz Sharif] selection as Chief Minister is a milestone in Pakistani politics,” State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters at his daily news conference on March 4.

Maryam is considered the political heir to 74-year-old Nawaz Sharif, the three-time former Prime Minister.

“We look forward to cooperating with Pakistan more broadly on integrating women more fully into the country’s political life, in the economy, including through the U.S.-Pakistan Women’s Council, civil society, and other decision-making spaces,” he said.

“An inclusive Pakistan makes for a strong, prosperous country which all Pakistanis benefit from, and so we are always pleased when we see cracks in the glass ceiling anywhere in the world,” Mr. Miller said in response to a question.

However, he refrained from commenting on the election of the new Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif.

On Monday, Shehbaz (72) assumed the cash-strapped country’s reins for a second time, nearly a month after an inconclusive election marred by allegations of vote rigging.

“I’m not going to speak with respect to the new Prime Minister, but as we’ve said before, we value our longstanding partnership with Pakistan and have always viewed a strong, prosperous, and democratic Pakistan as critical to U.S.-Pakistan interests, and our engagement with new Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his government will continue to focus on advancing these shared interests,” Mr. Miller said.

Jailed former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party on Feb. 27 said that no provincial Assembly session can be called without notifying the reserved seats, a day after the Assemblies of Punjab and Sindh were summoned and the Chief Ministers were sworn-in.

Speaking to the media in Islamabad, the 71-year-old Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party leader, Barrister Gohar Khan, said the new provincial Assemblies should be convened after all the members of the House are notified, the Dawn newspaper quoted him as saying.

“The Punjab [Assembly] session was carried out in an illegal manner. The Sindh Assembly session was carried out illegally. If the National Assembly session is called, that will also be illegal because the assemblies should be convened after all the members of the House are notified,” he said.

He urged the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to notify the reserved seats for the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), with which his party has entered a formal agreement.

Mr. Khan’s party could not directly participate in the February 8 general elections due to the non-allotment of its iconic electoral symbol — the cricket bat. To receive the party’s share of reserved seats, candidates of the PTI — who fought as independents and won the elections — formally joined the SIC.

The SIC is an alliance of Islamic political and religious parties in the Muslim-majority country, representing followers of the school of Sunni Islam.

The Election Commission of Pakistan will hold an open hearing on Feb. 26 of the PTI-backed SIC’s plea seeking the allocation of its share of reserved seats in the national and provincial Assemblies.

On Feb. 26, President Alvi rejected a summary from the caretaker Parliamentary Affairs Ministry to summon the first session of the newly elected National Assembly session on February 29.

Mr. Alvi maintained that all reserved seats be allocated before the summoning of the session in which newly-elected members of the National Assembly will take oath.

After the denial by Mr. Alvi — a close aide of PTI founder Khan and a former senior member of his party — National Assembly outgoing Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf decided to convene the lower House of Parliament session on February 29.

Meanwhile, the Punjab Assembly session on Feb. 26 saw the election of Maryam, the 50-year-old senior vice president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party, as the first-ever woman Chief Minister of Pakistan’s most populous Province.

Later in the day in Sindh, senior Pakistan Peoples Party leader Murad Ali Shah was reelected as the new Chief Minister of the Province after securing 112 votes out of 148 total cast during voting for the coveted position.

Though independents backed by the PTI won majority seats at the National Assembly in the February 8 general election, the PML-N and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) have agreed on a power-sharing deal to form a new coalition government, which may effectively end Mr. Khan’s chances of returning to power.

Mr. Khan’s party has rejected the attempts by the PML-N and the PPP to form a coalition government, warning that robbing its public endorsement by the “mandate thieves” will result in the worst political instability.

Independent candidates — a majority backed by the PTI party — won 93 National Assembly seats.

The PML-N won 75 seats, while the PPP came third with 54 seats. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) has 17 seats.

Imran Khan’s party to call ‘parallel’ Punjab Assembly session to elect CM, Speaker: report

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party plans to call a “parallel” Punjab Assembly session to elect the Chief Minister, Speaker and Deputy Speaker, claiming that newly-elected chief Minister Maryam Nawaz was in the House on “a stolen mandate”, a media report said on Feb. 27.

Ms. Nawaz, the 50-year-old senior Vice-President of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party, made history by becoming the first-ever woman Chief Minister of Pakistan’s most populous Punjab Province after receiving 220 votes.

She defeated Rana Aftab of 71-year-old Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), who received no votes as his party boycotted the election.

Former-cricketer-turned-politician Khan’s PTI party made a call for a “parallel” Punjab Assembly on Monday after claiming a strength of 250 members, including reserved seats for women and minorities, the Dawn newspaper reported.

To win the Chief Minister’s election, a candidate needs to win the backing of the majority, which is 187 members in the House that currently has 327 seats.

Addressing a press conference, PTI’s central leader, Shaukat Basra, claimed that more than half of the elected Punjab Assembly members, including the newly elected Chief Minister Maryam, were in the House on “a stolen mandate”.

He claimed that Ms. Nawaz was defeated by a PTI-backed candidate, Mehr Sharafat, in Lahore’s PP-159 constituency, according to the report.

Asserting that the results were rigged to ensure the new Punjab Chief Minister’s victory, Mr. Basra said that Ms. Nawaz “won the election on February 9 instead of February 8”.

“PML-N leaders used to say they struck a deal with powers that be, but they failed to strike a deal with the people of Pakistan,” he said.

“This rigged election will result in anarchy,” the PTI leader said.

Claiming that the establishment was still requesting PTI founder Khan to become Prime Minister, Mr. Basra said, “But Mr. Khan is determined that the establishment should ensure the mandate given by the people of Pakistan to PTI-backed candidates be returned,” he said.

Separately, the party criticised Ms. Nawaz’s election as the Chief Minister of the politically crucial Punjab Province and said all democratic and constitutional norms were trampled to elect her.

In a statement, the party’s spokesperson claimed that police “imposed a curfew” outside the assembly to prevent PTI’s members and the nominee for Chief Minister from entering the assembly.

It claimed that the sanctity of the Punjab Assembly was violated by “stealing the public mandate” to bring a “defeated woman” to power.

The spokesperson said the people of Punjab “would not tolerate an insult to their mandate”, according to the report.

At least 103 lawmakers of the PTI-backed SIC staged a walkout after the SIC nominee for Chief Minister, Aftab, was not permitted to speak at the point of order.

The newly-elected Speaker, Malik Ahmad Khan, eventually moved forward with the proceedings to elect a new leader of the House after efforts to bring back the boycotting lawmakers went in vain.

The PML-N clinched both speaker and deputy speaker offices in the Punjab Assembly.

In a marathon session of the Punjab Assembly on Saturday, the lawmakers elected PML-N leader Malik Ahmad Khan as the custodian of the House and Zaheer Iqbal Channar as his deputy.

The PML-N won 137 seats, while independents backed by 71-year-old Khan’s PTI party won 113 in the Punjab Assembly. Separately, 20-odd independents, not PTI-backed, have already joined the PML-N.

Punjab is the most populous Province of Pakistan, home to 120 million people.