ISLAMABAD: Leaders of the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on Tuesday lambasted the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) for plunging the country into a deep constitutional crisis and hoped that the Supreme Court would soon decide the matter and uphold the constitution.

Speaking at a news conference, PPP information secretary Shazia Marri and senior party leader Faisal Karim Kundi alleged that Imran Khan had used Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri for abrogating the country’s constitution only to stay in the office of the prime minister for few more days.

The PPP leaders were of the view that if the deputy speaker’s ruling disallowing vote on the opposition-moved no confidence resolution against Imran Khan was accepted, then tomorrow no party would ever be able to use the parliamentary and democratic tool of removing the prime minister from the office.

Referring to the relevant articles of the constitution and the rules of the assembly, Ms Marri said the lower house of the parliament could not be prorogued until voting on the no confidence resolution against the prime minister which the opposition parties had submitted under Article 95 of the constitution on March 8.

The outspoken PPP MNA said the whole drama staged in the National Assembly on April 3 was scripted. She said the deputy speaker gave the floor to the then law minister Fawad Chaudhry as per plan and then read out the ruling which he had brought with him in the written form. She said that President Dr Arif Alvi, Mr Suri and Mr Chaudhry were all the main characters of the drama staged on the directive of Imran Khan.

She said the PTI through the deputy speaker had violated the constitution after knowing that the opposition had acquired the numbers to oust Imran Khan. She also alleged that it seemed that Imran Khan was not a mentally stable person.

Ms Marri said the opposition had brought the no confidence resolution against the prime minister because of his government’s failed economic policies and alleged corruption. She said due to the bad economic policies of the PTI government, the farmers were already in the streets against.

She said that the tales of corruption in Punjab had started surfacing after the resignation of chief minister Usman Buzdar and Farah Khan, a friend of the first lady Bushra Bibi had already fled the country.

The PPP leaders also expressed their concerns over the delay in the election of the chief minister of Punjab.

Published in Dawn, April 6th, 2022