ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) announced on
Sunday its plan to launch a ‘movement for accountability’ from Peshawar
on Aug 7.
Addressing the party’s top leaders at his
residence in Bani Gala, PTI chairman Imran Khan said the movement would
be a turning point in the political history of the country. “It [seeks]
to make the corrupt elite of the country accountable before courts of
law, [which is] the only way to strengthen genuine democracy in the
country,” he was quoted as saying.
During the meeting,
party leaders decided that Mr Khan would lead a rally in a city every
Sunday. “Imran Khan will be spearheading party workers who will set off
from the PTI-ruled city of Peshawar and head towards Punjab,” party
spokesperson Naeemul Haq told Dawn.
He said the movement
would continue until Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif presented himself
before a court for accountability in the context of the Panama Papers
leaks about offshore wealth.
At the same time, Mr Haq
added, the party would be following up on its petition, filed before the
Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), challenging the prime minister
for hiding his assets. The next hearing on the matter is due on Friday.
Moreover, he said, the party’s legal experts were mulling the option of taking the prime minister to the Supreme Court.
Party meeting reviews legal options against PM
“Alongside fighting the case at legal forums, we will build
public pressure against the prime minister by holding rallies. Of
course, if the ECP or the Supreme Court takes action against the prime
minister for his alleged involvement in money laundering in the
meantime, there will no longer be any reason for the movement to
continue,” Mr Haq said.
Ishaq Khakwani, who was recently
given the responsibility of organising the party in south Punjab as its
regional president, said the PTI had decided to launch the movement
through a consensus.
He said the PTI wasn’t hitting the
roads just to seek votes, but to highlight the critical issue of
corruption. “The only purpose of this movement is to make the people
aware of just how involved in corruption our elites are, and who needs
to be held accountable,” Mr Khakwani said.
However,
others in the party have apprehensions over whether this is the right
time to launch the movement. A PTI leader said that if they eventually
were to agree on a judicial commission, then why launch this movement in
the first place.
What if, tomorrow, the ECP ruled
against the PTI’s petition or the Supreme Court didn’t accept the
party’s argument against the prime minister, the leader wondered,
highlighting the potential pitfalls the party leadership could face in
the days to come.
Another leader who was not in favour of
the movement until the party had exhausted all legal and parliamentary
options, said: “We have decided to attend the meeting of the
parliamentary committee on the terms of reference (ToR) of an inquiry
into the Panama Papers issue and the announcement to hold a rally will
leave a bad taste in [the government’s] mouth.”
However, since Mr Khan was all for this movement, everybody fell in line, he said.
According
to a press statement released after the meeting, participants also
discussed the nominations of party office-bearers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
and Sindh, which will be made over the next couple of days. After the
postponement of party elections, the posts at various tiers are being
filled through nominations.
Supreme Court lawyer and TV
personality Naeem Bokhari also attended the meeting and, according to a
participant, made a detailed presentation over the chances of success if
the party decided to move the court against the prime minister, saying
he was in favour of filing the petition.
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