ISLAMABAD: PTI Chairman Imran Khan has issued a clarion call to the country’s legal fraternity, urging a grassroots movement to uphold the people’s rights, particularly the right to vote and elect their representatives.

“It is the fiduciary duty of the judiciary and the lawyers to protect the Constitution, upon which rests the progress of our nation,” Mr Khan said in a message posted on his X (formerly Twitter) account on Wednesday.

“Therefore, the legal fraternity must start and lead a movement for upholding the rights of the people of Pakistan, foremost their fundamental right to vote, to choose their leaders and to define their future themselves,” he said in the message, shared through his family.

The former prime minister said the fact that which leader citizens choose is secondary, “but they must be given their basic and fundamental right enshrined in the Constitution to choose their representatives”.

He added: “Pakistan stands at the crossroads; it is a critical juncture where we are watching the steady destruction and dismantling of our justice system.”

Mr Khan warned that if citizens did not fight for justice and stand behind the judges, “we will not be able to establish constitutional supremacy in this country or stand up against this rule of might, where only the fittest and the richest survive”.

Published in Dawn, November 2nd, 2023