Pakistani media slam govt’s plan to ban Khan’s PTI
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s leading newspapers on Tuesday denounced the decision of the government to ban jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s political party, describing it as a “desperate” and “xenophobic political decision” that should be revoked.
Major English-language dailies of the country criticised the action of the government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for resorting to extreme measures to counter the Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party rather than using political means to tackle its rising power.
The editorials were also sceptical that the Supreme Court would endorse the decision of the PML-N government.
The Pakistan government on Monday decided to ban PTI on charges of illegally receiving foreign funds, involvement in riots and its alleged involvement in “anti-state” activities. The government has also threatened to slap treason charges on 71-yearold Khan as well as on former president Arif Alvi (74) among others.
A popular newspaper in its editorial ‘Banning PTI’ referred to the majority judgment on reserved seats when 11 out of 13 judges of the Supreme Court, including the chief justice, only last week recognised the PTI’s bona fides as a political party.
“It is dangerous for a government to appear so desperate. Like grains of sand, power slips quicker from the hand the tighter the fist is clenched. In their obsession with countering the resurgent PTI, the ruling parties are, wittingly or unwittingly, pushing the country towards even more chaos and anarchy instead of accepting ground realities and working around them,” the paper observed. It also suggested a “hard course correction” on the part of the government.