Not in favour of banning political parties, governor rule but PTI pushing authorities in that direction: Azma

Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari on Tuesday said that she was not in favour of a ban on political parties or condoning a governor’s rule in a province, but stressed that the PTI’s “recent actions” were “pushing” authorities in that direction.

Addressing a press conference in Lahore, Bokhari, in response to a two-part question regarding the possibility of a ban on PTI and the imposition of governor’s rule in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, said, “As a political worker, I do not support that any party should be banned or that governor’s rule should be imposed.”

But, she continued, “considering the state of affairs, the PTI is pushing us to go in that direction.”

“KP remains most afflicted by terrorism, but the police there remain understaffed; they do not yet have a Crimes Control Department (CCD), and police do not have the necessary equipment,” she said.

The minister stressed that the PTI’s rhetoric was putting “Pakistan at stake, and if they do not stop, we will not be left with any other options.”

The minister further added that the incarcerated PTI leader had “become Altaf Hussain part two,” referring to the self-exiled MQM leader. In 2015, the Lahore High Court had banned the broadcast of images and speeches of Hussain across all electronic and print media till further orders for his inflammatory speech against state institutions.

“He has the same policies as Altaf Hussain, which were still quite mild compared to his (Imran),” she said.

At a later point in the press conference, Bokhari remarked about the PTI founder that “I fear that perhaps he will meet the same fate as Altaf Hussain.”

Bokhari alleged that PTI was engaging in maligning the head of an institute — an apparent reference to Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir.

“If you are going to engage in a campaign against the head of an institution, it will not be long until a full stop is placed,” she warned.

She recalled that during the party’s tenure, Pakistan remained “globally isolated.”

However, she said, Pakistan was “now on track, and the PTI cannot digest it because whatever is good for Pakistan…this group considers it bad news.”

She stressed that Pakistan “cannot run in parallel with Imran’s politics.”

“We have tolerated this for 2.5 years; there is a limit,” she noted, adding that the party had become a “threat” to the country.

Over the past week, PTI has received a string of admonishments from the country’s politicians, who have been rallying behind the armed forces after a fiery press conference by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry on December 5.

The press conference, where the army spokesperson assailed incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan for creating and spreading an “anti-army” rhetoric, followed the former prime minister’s latest outburst against the military leadership, delivered last week through his sister Uzma Khan during a jail visit after weeks of restricted access.

On Monday, Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry said that the PTI’s “unjustified” criticism of the army had pushed the institution to respond.

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