Pakistan Peoples Party disowns views of members against proposal to ban Imran Khan's party

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), a key ally of the ruling coalition in Pakistan, distanced itself from statements issued by some of its members opposing the government's plan to ban opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) as a political party, terming them as "personal" opinion, Pakistan-based daily, Dawn reported on Wednesday.

PPP Secretary General Nayyar Hussain Bokhari told Dawn that the proposal to ban the now- jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan-led PTI was not discussed at any level in the party. So, whatever the party leaders said in opposition to the idea should be seen as a 'personal opinion', Dawn reported.

Bokhari issued a brief statement disowning the remarks made by Farhatullah Babar, the Islamabad-based publication reported.

Babar had said in a post on X, "Country is deeply polarised, economy shattered, socially & ethnically divided, insecurity at highest, runaway inflation, exploding population & no jobs. Yet powers that be can't think of more than iddat case, allow ISI to invade privacy and enforcedly disappear citizens. Pity"

"Talk of banning a political party or trial of a political leader for treason is rubbish. Unsustainable. Compounding political crisis. US democracy will sustain its current crisis. Pakistani democracy, indeed state itself, is unlikely to sustain self imposed crisis. Be warned,: he had posted on X.

On Tuesday, several leaders from other political parties besides PTI, like- PPP, Awami National Party, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, and Jamaat-i-Islami criticized the ban proposal.

The PTI held a press conference and stated that the move was due to the "embarrassment" faced by the ruling party after the Supreme Court decision granted reserved seats to the PTI, which caused it to win a two-thirds majority in the parliament.

Opposition leader Omar Ayub Khan, with the support of party chairperson Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and other party leaders, said that the government was trying to scare 240 million people of Pakistan through such tactics of intimidation, coercion and harassment, but PTI will not be scared.

They vowed that they had fought and would continue to battle the elements "hell-bent on plunging the country into the quagmire of destruction and anarchy" by giving their wish the status of the law.