Pakistan is going to ban Imran Khan's PTI

International Desk: The government of the country has decided to ban Pakistan Tehreek-e Insaf (PTI), the political party of Pakistan's former prime minister and the country's legendary cricketer Imran Khan.

Pakistan's Information Minister Ata Tarar said that steps are being taken on this issue soon.  In a press conference in the capital Islamabad on Monday, Ata Tarar said that this step is being taken according to subsection 2 of Article 17 of the Constitution. He said, "Acceptance of foreign funds, riots of May 9, leakage of secret information of the state, as well as leak of censure motion in the US Parliament on this issue - this decision has been taken into consideration.

" Why has the government taken this decision? In response to the question of the journalists, the information minister said, "In the course of events of the last few years, the government has realized well that this party is against the progress of the country." If the country wants to move forward...then it is not possible with PTI.' 

That is why we are going to take steps to ban PTI as per Article 17 of the Constitution. A proposal on this issue will be sent to the Supreme Court soon. Article 17, sub-section 2 of the Constitution of Pakistan states, "For the purpose of protecting the sovereignty and integrity of Pakistan, any citizen other than government employees can form political parties." 

The sub-section also states, 'If the formation and activities of any political party are detrimental to the sovereignty and integrity of the country, then the central government can announce the banning of that party. However, within 15 days of this announcement, the Central Government has to inform the Supreme Court in writing in this regard. Then the decision given by the Supreme Court will be effective. Incidentally, Pakistan's World Cup-winning cricket captain-turned-politician Imran Khan formed Pakistan Tehreek-e Insaf in 1996.

Then he won the 2018 election and became the Prime Minister of the country for the first time with the help of the military. However, like the former prime ministers, he also had to leave before the end of his term. He was ousted on 10 April 2022 in a vote of no confidence by opposition members of parliament, within eight months of his conflict with the military-run intelligence agency ISI in 2021. Ever since he lost power, there have been a series of cases against him.

Imran Khan has been in jail since August 2023 as a convicted defendant in those cases. PTI participated in the 2023 elections while he was in jail. PTI candidates used the symbols of independent candidates as the court banned them from using the cricket bat as their party symbol in the elections. Although the opposition party in the current Parliament of Pakistan, PTI has the achievement of winning the most number of seats as a single party. Yesterday, Sunday, the Supreme Court gave a verdict by allocating 23 of the 70 reserved seats of the Pakistan Parliament to the PTI. The next day, the central government of the country decided to ban the party.