Zardari has destroyed Bhutto’s Constitution, says Shah Mehmood Qureshi

KARACHI: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Sunday that PPP was proud of the 18th Amendment but “Bhutto’s grandson has decided to attack Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s Constitution, ARY News reported.

Speaking to the media in Karachi today, the former foreign minister has asked PPP to clear its stance whether they were standing with the Constitution or abrogating it.

“Either the PPP stands with the Constitution or it should announce that it is abrogating it,” he said, adding that the silence that PPP has adopted was not enough.

Taking aim at the former president and PPP co-chairman, Qureshi said: Asif Ali Zardari has destroyed what Bhutto created”.

Shah Mehmood Qureshi also lashed out at the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) for “attacking” the Constitution and “pressurising the Supreme Court”.

He went on to say that the coalition government was using every tactic to delay general elections and for that, the new bill limiting the CJP’s powers was also passed in the parliament.

The PTI vice-chairman said that President Dr Arif Alvi has already begun consultations with lawyers.  He also urged the legal community “to play a role in the country’s history”.

Constitutional crisis deepens

The constitutional crisis in Pakistan deepened as the ruling coalition in the Centre, led by PML-N, hinted that it would not accept the decision of the three-member SC bench hearing the polls delay case.

Yesterday, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah asserted that the government was considering filing a reference against three judges of Supreme Court (SC), including the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, who are hearing the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) petition against delay in elections of Punjab Assembly.

Speaking to an international media outlet, the interior minister had said that the matter of the filing of a reference against three judges – CJP Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Muneeb Akhtar – “is under discussion but there has been no decision on it yet”.

He noted that the three judges rejected the request for a full court bench and “refused to accept the stance of their fellow judges”.

The Supreme Court, in an appeal filed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf challenging the postponement of elections till October 8 by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), constituted a five-member bench and after the recusal of the two judges was left with three judges who would continue to hold proceedings on Monday.