Days after it was granted relief from the apex court, the government on Monday announced plans to ban the PTI — a move that has been termed as “desperate” and “unsustainable” by experts.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad today, Information Minister Atta Tarar said the country could not move forward with the Imran Khan-led party’s existence.

“In view of the foreign funding case, May 9 riots, and the cipher episode as well as the resolution passed in the US, we believe that there is very credible evidence present to have the PTI banned.

“We are going to impose a ban on PTI and we believe that Article 17 of the Constitution gives the government the right to ban political parties, and this matter will be referred to the Supreme Court,” he said.

Article 17

Every citizen, not being in the service of Pakistan, shall have the right to form or be a member of a political party, subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interest of the sovereignty or integrity of Pakistan and such law shall provide that where the Federal Government declares that any political party has been formed or is operating in a manner prejudicial to the sovereignty or integrity of Pakistan, the Federal Government shall, within fifteen days of such declaration, refer the matter to the Supreme Court whose decision on such reference shall be final.

Tarar added that the government had further decided to file a reference against Imran, former president Arif Alvi and former National Assembly deputy speaker Qasim Suri under Article 6 of the Constitution — which corresponds to high treason — for dissolving assemblies in April 2022 despite a motion of no-confidence being moved against the PTI chief in Parliament.

The decision comes on the heels of two major developments in the PTI’s favour: the Supreme Court’s decision to declare the party eligible for reserved seats and the overturning of Imran’s conviction in the Iddat case.

In the aftermath of the top court’s judgement, the PTI is set to emerge as the single largest party in the National Assembly.

Here’s what lawyers, politicians and journalists had to say about the government’s latest move:

‘Destroying democracy’

Barrister Asad Rahim remarked that banning a country’s largest political party was akin to banning the will of its people. “There can be no starker illustration of a regime without a mandate than this wild and desperate move,” he told Dawn.com.

“Days after Pakistan’s elected representatives were returned their rightful strength in the assembly — that too when not counting for mass rigging — the unelected centre has hit the panic button.

“An act like this will destroy what’s left of democracy, just as it did when the Bhutto regime moved to dissolve the NAP [National Awami Party] — the largest party in two of four provinces. The current iteration is even more ridiculous, given that the PTI has won the most seats in the general election,” the lawyer highlighted.

He added that the government’s decision was a “fraud on the Constitution”, “betrayal of the parliamentary system” and “an insult to the popular will”.

‘Ridiculous and desperate’

Speaking to Dawn.com, lawyer and politician Moiz Jaferii said a political party could not be banned other than through a reference to the apex court.

“The declaration by a federal government sending such a recommendation to the SC must explain how the particular party concerned is operating in a manner prejudicial to the sovereignty or integrity of Pakistan. This must be done within 15 days and the SC then gets to decide whether this is in fact the case,” he explained.

Jaferii remarked that a party could not just be banned, terming the government’s move “ridiculous and desperate posturing by a regime exposed day by day for its lack of legitimacy and popular appeal”.

“If the party is banned, anyone appearing on its ticket would lose the right to represent members in Parliament and be disqualified under Section 213 of the Election Act 2017,” he added.

Lawyer Jibran Nasir said that the pursuit of seeking a ban on the PTI “not only shows how weak the PML-N is but how desperate and frustrated the establishment has become”.

“Neither the establishment could fool the voters to support the PML-N over PTI with propaganda nor could it terrorise its core members and workers to leave PTI through raids, arrests, abductions and torture,” he wrote in a post on X.

‘Remedy of last resort’

Separately, lawyer Basil Nabi Malik said the process of dissolving a political party was considered to be a “remedy of the last resort” which was why it had been made particularly cumbersome.

“In fact, Article 17(2) of the Constitution places a clear restriction on the federal government placing bans on political parties by involving the SC in the process itself.

“In terms of Section 212 of the Election Act, 2017, read with Article 17(2) of the Constitution, the federal government, if satisfied that a political party is a foreign aided political party, or involved in acts which are prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of the state, or terrorism, may declare the same as such via a notification in the official gazette,” he highlighted.

Upon doing so, and within 15 days of such declaration, the government shall refer the matter to the SC, the lawyer said, adding that if the SC upheld the declaration in question, the party would stand dissolved forthwith.

“If the party is banned, the members of the political party who are members of national and provincial assemblies, as well as the local government, shall be disqualified,” Nabi added.

Lawyer Mirza Moiz Baig also said that Article 17 of the Constitution provided that the government may declare a political party to be working against the integrity or sovereignty of Pakistan.

“Nonetheless, in the event that the government makes such a declaration, it is obliged to refer a reference to the SC within 15 days of such declaration,” he said, adding that the SC’s decision in this respect was final and binding.

Section 212 of the Elections Act also supports this view, Baig pointed out.

“While Section 213 of the Elections Act provides that the parliamentarians of a banned political party shall be disqualified for the remaining term of the assembly, Section 213 would only trigger after the SC upholds the government’s declaration,” he added.

‘Rubbish and unsustainable’

Awaam Pakistan Chairman and former PML-N senior vice president Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said the government had no precedent to ban any political party.

He said that the situation in the country was asking for unity, however, the government was creating further divisions.

“Maybe the ministers do not realise but the government cannot ban anyone,” he reiterated while addressing a press conference at Islamabad’s National Press Club.

“Imran put us in jail, we are putting him in jail then everyone will try to put someone else in jail,” he said. “Imran made mistakes, do you want to repeat those mistakes?”

Former PPP senator Raza Rabbani said talk of banning a political party by the government was “against all the norms of democracy” and it should refrain from taking such a step.

“The country is already facing grave economic and political instability, such a step will add political chaos and bog down the economy. This economic and political chaos can be a recipe for destabilising the entire democratic system, which if happens, will have effect on the federation, given the already sharp internal fault lines.

“The government should concentrate on curbing the increasing trends of internal terrorism, as a consequence of which members of the armed forces, security forces, police and civilians are being targeted,” he said in a statement.

He said the step of banning a political party had always been unsuccessful in the country’s history and “been thrown in the dustbin”.

PPP leader Khursheed Shah also said that the party was not taken into confidence about the matter, adding that there was no direction from the party on the matter as of yet.

“We should do politics. These things will not solve the problems. Everyone should sit together [considering] the conditions in the country,” he said.

Former PML-N senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed lamented that no lessons were learnt from history as old mistakes were being repeated.

He said the above meant: “Goodbye to political stability, goodbye to investment, goodbye to economic revival!”

In a post on X, human rights activist and former PPP senator Farhatullah Babar said the talk of banning a political party or trial of a political leader for treason was “rubbish” and “unsustainable”.

“US democracy will sustain its current crisis. Pakistani democracy, indeed state itself, is unlikely to sustain [the] self-imposed crisis. Be warned,” he said.

Jamaat-i-Islami emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman termed the government’s decision an “example of fascism”.

“There is no room for these decisions in democratic societies. This country has a Constitution and courts. Only parties that believe in authoritarian thinking can take such tyrannical decisions.”

Former PPP senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar remarked that the government was under pressure, adding that the move to ban the PTI was akin to following the “legacy of dictators”.

“Insulting the public’s mandate should now stop,” he demanded.

US expresses ‘great concern’

Questioned about the ban, US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said the United States understood that the announcement was the “beginning of a complex political process”.

However, he added: “Certainly, banning a political party is something that would be of great concern to us.”

‘Grave mistake’

Journalist Zarrar Khuhro remarked that “as with each and every move this too will backfire spectacularly”.

“Oh the combination of fear, desperation and an absolute lack of any brains at all. Brought to you by the same brilliant minds who thought the Iddat case and having Maneka count menstrual cycles on TV was a sure shot winning idea,” he said on X.

On the other hand, senior journalist Mubashir Zaidi warned that banning the PTI would be a “grave mistake”.

Meanwhile, journalist Moizur Rehman said today’s announcement by the government had “no legal basis or standing”.

“The Supreme Court will not entertain such ridiculous cases,” he said in a post on X, adding that this episode would give the ruling party an opportunity to increase their confrontation with the SC in order to “play the victim card”.

In a post on X, Journalist Hamid Mir said the country’s history showed that a political party’s leadership could not be eliminated by banning it. “This is a lesson from the past that the PPP has learned … the PML-N is yet to understand it,” he added.

Separately, in an interview with Geo News, he said the government’s move was not unexpected, recalling that talks regarding the ban on PTI had surfaced following the May 9 riots.

“But it seems like the government thought filing a reference at that time would be a wrong move given that Arif Alvi was the president and would have the option of not sending the reference forward. They now decided to go forward with the reference because Alvi has gone back to being a part of the PTI,” he pointed out.