Doubling down the stance on banning the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Information Minister Attaullah Tarar has said that the incumbent government has made up its mind to go forward with its "principled" decision which will be carried out after consultations and relevant legal homework. "[We] have consulted with the Pakistan Peoples Party with regards to the PTI ban and are currently in talks with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan [...] people are strongly supporting [the idea of banning [PTI], Tarar said while speaking to a private Tv news channel  on Tuesday. The minister's remarks follow his last week's announcement regarding imposing a ban on Imran Khan-founded party stressing that the "PTI and Pakistan could not co-exist". The decisions, as per Tarar, were taken in light of the former ruling party's involvement in the May 9 events and the PTI's former or current leaders' attempts to sabotage Pakistan's deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Furthermore, he also said that treason cases would be filed under Article 6 of the Constitution against Khan, then-president Arif Alvi and then National Assembly deputy speaker Qasim Suri.

However, the announcement drew a strong reaction from various political parties who termed the move as "childish" and "unconstitutional". Multiple senior PPP leaders, which is a key ally of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), also voiced their opposition to the ban move with Farhatullah Babar terming the decision as "absurd". Various party leaders, including Senator Sherry Rehman and Information Secretary Shazia Atta Marri, also complained about the party not being consulted on the said matter. Meanwhile, former Senate chairman Raza Rabbani said the talk of banning a political party by the government "is against all the norms of democracy". However, the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians later distanced itself from the Bilawal Bhutto-led PPP with PPPP Secretary General Nayyar Hussain Bokhari saying that the party leader's remarks did not reflect the party's policy. Additionally, the prospects of banning the PTI were also criticised by recently launched Awam Pakistan's Shahid Khaqan Abbasi — the former prime minister and senior leader of the PMl-N. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and the US State Department also expressed concerns over PM Shehbaz's government's move to ban the former ruling party as well.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan