ISLAMABAD: At a time when his party leaders and lawyers were busy at the Supreme Court (SC), Pakis­tan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Monday shared a video clip purported to be about the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz’s (PML-N) “attack” on the top court in 1997.

“This video says it all about the Sharif mafia. Those who can’t be bribed must then be eliminated,” he tweeted with the video news report about the PML-N’s alleged attack on then chief justice Sajjad Ali Shah’s court.

On the other hand, PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry, while addressing a news conference at the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa House here, demanded the names of Pakistan Demo­cratic Movement (PDM) leaders be placed on the Exit Control List (ECL) for what he called blackmailing the apex court to pressurise it.

Reacting to the press conference of the ruling coalition leaders, he said the “gang of thieves” had launched a direct attack on the Supreme Court. After the judiciary, he claimed, the PML-N would initiate a campaign against some army officers to pressurise both institutions, as 531 registered accounts had been allegedly used in the anti-judiciary campaign online.

Mr Chaudhry lamented that despite being on bail, a woman (in reference to Maryam Nawaz) continued to hold press conferences against the judiciary, and that too in the PM House.

Lashing out at PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari, he said the entire Sindh became a dam whenever it rained, but the former president was focused on salvaging the Punjab government by spending Sindh’s money.

Regarding Zardari’s departure to Dubai, the former minister claimed he had fled the country knowing the incumbent government was going to last just a few days, adding that all the “crooks” could try to escape anytime, hence their names should be added to the ECL. He further said Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari should be reminded that his mother Benazir had been a victim of the PML-N’s tyranny and oppression her entire life.

Commenting on Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s tone and attitude during the ruling leadership’s press conference, Fawad questioned how many seats he held in Punjab. All these 11 parties together had been defeated by Imran Khan (in the Punjab by-polls), and they should have resigned if they had any shame, he remarked.

The PTI leader said the way things had been going for sometime, it showed the establishment was not neutral, adding Mr Khan had saved Pakistan from becoming Sri Lanka. He demanded a full court be constituted regarding the media cell allegedly working under the leadership of PM’s adviser Fahd Hussain.

Meanwhile, PTI Sindh President Ali Haider Zaidi also shared the same video clip as his party chief, calling it “one of the most shameful moments of #BlackmailerLeague’s politics”. He alleged the PML-N had stooped to all the way down to attacking the apex court physically as they got too used to “marzi ke faislay”.

In a statement, he said Pakistan was once more at a crossroads and now all eyes were on the SC, as the “crooked N-league” had resorted to their old tricks and once again started attacking the SC, so far not physically but through massive verbal abuse on TV and social media.

The PTI leader maintained people were upset, as they had been constantly lied to and their belief in the system was at an all-time low.

Dr Shahbaz Gill of the PTI asked on social media why not even a single government lawyer argued that the ruling of the Punjab Assembly deputy speaker was correct.

Former PTI minister Hammad Azhar also asked why Hamza Shehbaz was the chief minister for three months.

“Hamza Shahbaz has remained CM of Punjab since last 3 months despite never been elected by the majority in the house. The 12 parties are so petrified of Imran Khan that they are shamelessly and repeatedly insulting the public mandate. For how long?” he tweeted.

Another PTI leader, Farrukh Habib, also asked, in a tweet, in which capacity Maryam Nawaz had held a press conference in an auditorium of the PM Secretariat.

Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2022