Amid move to ban PTI, Fazl urges military to stay out of ‘politics’

• Fazl asks all institutions to work within their constitutional domain.
• “Military will have to distance itself from politics to resolve crisis.”
• Politician says only solution to problems is fresh elections in country.
  

As the federal government plans to impose a ban on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has said Pakistan will not be able to come out of the political crisis until the army detaches itself from the political affairs.

Highlighting the prevailing political crisis in the country, the JUI-F chief said: “The army will have to distance itself from politics in order to resolve the political crisis.”

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-led government on Monday decided to impose a ban on the rival PTI over its involvement in the anti-state activities and file references against then prime minister Imran Khan, then president Arif Alvi and then National Assembly deputy speaker Qasim Suri for treason under Article 6 for dissolving the lower house of parliament in April 2022.

Taking to social media site X, Fazl said that the use of force against political parties was not a solution to the problems. Instead, the country could only be back on track if all the institutions limit their role in a framework defined in the Constitution.

“The sooner the powerful circle understands this fact, the better it will be for the country and themselves. The key state institutions should accept that the current hybrid system has failed,” the JUI-F chief wrote on the site.

He further reiterated his long-maintained stance and demand for fresh elections in the country, saying that the solution to all the problems lies in holding new and transparent polls in the country.

Several political forces have joined the PTI in strongly condemning the government’s potential move to ban the Imran Khan-founded party.

“The PTI and Pakistan cannot co-exist,” Information Minister Ataullah Tarar told a press conference in Islamabad earlier today, saying that the matter be taken up in the federal cabinet before moving the Supreme Court.

The information minister said the decisions were taken in light of the former ruling party’s alleged involvement in the May 9 riots and the PTI’s former or current leaders’ attempts to sabotage Pakistan’s deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Farhatullah Babar, a member of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), which is an ally of the ruling coalition, dubbed banning a political party “absurd”, saying: “It is also absurdity to talk about launching a treason case against a political leader.”

Meanwhile, the Awami National Party (ANP) termed the government’s move to ban the PTI “childish and injudicious”, saying that the path of the political parties could not be choked with restrictions and hurdles, stressing: “Restrictions on the political parties and political process are not acceptable at any cost.”

Joining the chorus of the other political parties, recently launched Awam Pakistan’s Shahid Khaqan Abbasi also voiced outright condemnation of the ruling coalition, saying the incumbent rulers cannot impose a ban as “they have not studied the Constitution and the law”.

The rulers are too fond of invoking Article 6, Abbasi said, predicting that “they (rulers) themselves will end up facing treason charges if they invoke Article 6 against the PTI”.

He said that banning the PTI would further deteriorate the situation.