Islamabad – In a major political move, the National Assembly of Pakistan has ousted three prominent leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party of former Prime Minister Imran Khan from their key parliamentary positions. The action comes after a ruling by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), which disqualified them following their conviction by an anti-terrorism court over their participation in the 9 May 2023 protests.
Disqualified leaders include Omar Ayub Khan, the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly; Zartaj Gul, the parliamentary leader of the party; and Muhammad Ahmad Chattha, the deputy parliamentary leader.
The decision by the ECP was made on August 5 after an anti-terrorism court in Faisalabad sentenced the lawmakers, along with several dozen others, to 10 years in prison because of their involvement in the violent protests that broke out in the country after the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan. The accusations against the leaders were of assaults on military bases and government property.
Among those convicted were 108 PTI leaders, including opposition leader in Senate Shibli Faraz, Zartaj Gul, MNA Sahibzada Hamid Raza, and former MNA Sheikh Rashid Shafiq, out of the 185 leaders implicated in the cases, with 77 others acquitted.
The move by the ECP has been met with vigorous objections by the PTI, which has described the disqualifications as a targeted campaign against the party. In a session of the National Assembly, the interim chairman of the PTI, Gohar Ali Khan, said that the party’s seats were being grabbed in legal proceedings, warning that such actions undermine democracy. He added that PTI condemned the violence that happened on May 9 and questioned how long the incident would be used to remove legislators.
The government has, in turn, responded by arguing that the convictions are legal. Law Minister Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar explained that the government had no role in the judicial process, which he termed as being lawful. He stated that the courts were to determine the verdicts and that the constitutional structure demands that they respect the independence of the judicial system.
The removal of the three leaders has created a gap in the opposition front, and the National Assembly is now to nominate a new personality to fill the gap left by Omar Ayub.
The latest convictions, followed by disqualifications, are part of a series of legal moves against both the PTI and its leaders involved in the May 9 riots. The party claims that these cases are politically motivated since it has been in a long standoff with the current government. The government, however, maintains that the legal system is holding individuals accountable for what it labels as a “dark day” in the country’s history.
