ISLAMABAD: After the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has also predicted a constitutional breakdown in the country amid an ongoing dispute over reserved seats.
A senior PTI leader Hamid Khan said that the current government was leading the country towards a constitutional crisis with its unconstitutional actions.
Hamid Khan pointed to the PML-N government’s opposition to the Supreme Court verdict allowing the PTI to claim reserved seats in parliament, warning that the entire constitutional system would collapse if the apex court’s judgments were not implemented. He stated this while speaking at a current affairs program of a private TV channel.
During the same program, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif also expressed fears about a “constitutional meltdown” in the country.
“I don’t have any information [but] this is just my gut feeling that a constitutional breakdown is about to happen… sooner or later [but] it is going to happen,” he said.
However, Asif clarified that he was not discussing the possibility of martial law being imposed. “There should be a political solution to political problems,” he maintained.
When asked about the perception that the current rulers are facilitating the institutions’ alleged fight against jailed PTI founder Imran Khan, he rejected this notion, saying, “This is about Pakistan.”
“Since their [PTI] ouster from power and the attitude they adopted, the PTI has become an existential threat to the country,” Asif said, adding that the party was receiving extensive support from the US “either diplomatic or legislative.”
He also claimed that the PTI hired lobbyists in the US “who have garnered [them] support from different lobbies.”
In a separate appearance on another news channel, the defense minister warned, “We would go to every extent to save the government,” The News reported.
Asif said the PML-N government would take all necessary measures to preserve the current setup. He mentioned rumors about potential moves to cancel the elections through a petition. “But we will go to any extent to save the government,” he asserted.
