- Imran used all his cards and wasted them: Barrister Aqeel.
- “Ayub seeks parliamentary committee for CEC’s appointment.”
- Faisal says PTI founder presented his stance in open letter.
The government termed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan’s letter to Chief of the Army Staff Gen Asim Munir a “drama and a storm in a tea cup” with the former ruling party claiming that it was an “open letter” forwarded through journalists and social media.
“It’s nothing but a drama and a storm in a tea cup,” Barrister Aqeel Malik, the government’s spokesperson on legal affairs, said while speaking on Geo News programme, ‘Capital Talk’.
A day earlier, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and lawyer Faisal Chaudhry confirmed that Imran, who is incarcerated in Adiala jail, penned a six-point letter to the army chief urging for review of policies while explaining the reasons for what he called the gap between public and the Army.
He clarified that writing a letter by the party founder to the army chief was not a policy shift but he wrote the letter as a former prime minister.
The 71-year-old cricketer-turned-politician has been behind bars since August last year after he was sentenced in multiple cases registered against the former premier since his ouster from power in April 2022.
However, security sources, earlier in the day, claimed that no letter from the incarcerated former premier was received by COAS Munir. Sources added that the news about Khan’s letter came to the military brass via the media.
Speaking during today’s programme, Barrister Aqeel said Imran used “all his cards” and wasted them. “PTI wanted [US President] Donald Trump to talk about its founder’s release in his first speech,” he claimed.
Separately, PTI lawyer Faisal — while speaking on Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’ — said that the former premier has expressed his position in the open letter.
“I don’t think that the open letter has not reached the relevant institutions,” he added.
The letter comes weeks after PTI leaders — Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan — met the army chief, with the party’s chairman saying that they discussed the overall security situation.
It also holds importance as the former ruling party ended its negotiations with the PML-N-led government last month, in which the PTI had demanded two things — the formation of judicial commissions on events that transpired on May 9, 2023, and November 24-27 as well as the release of “all political prisoners”, including Khan.
CEC appointment
In response to a question on ‘Capital Talk’, Barrister Aqeel said the Constitution clearly states that the prime minister and the leader of the opposition have to consult for the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC).
“Omar Ayub has already demanded the formation of a parliamentary committee for CEC’s appointment,” he said, noting that the PTI leader has taken the second step before the first.
Meanwhile, PTI leader Zartaj Gul said that Ayub has fulfilled his responsibility on the CEC issue. “The government should stop appointing people of its choice.”
The five-year term of CEC ended on January 26, but he is fulfilling his duties under the 26th Constitutional Amendment until a new appointment is made.
Under the 26th Amendment, he would continue to work even after the completion of the term, as Article 215 of the Constitution allows them to remain in their offices until the appointment of a new CEC.
As per Article 213, the prime minister and the opposition leader will send three names for CEC to the president by consensus.
If there is no agreement on the names between the two, then the prime minister and the leader of the opposition will send their respective names to a parliamentary committee. After this, the NA speaker will form a 12-member parliamentary committee, which will send one name from among these to the president for approval.
