Daily Times

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry said on Sunday that institutions are vital for running the affairs of the country “but they should also respect the political leadership”. Addressing a press conference in the federal capital, Fawad emphasised the need for cordial ties with the institutions, saying his party wanted to be on the “same page” with them. However, he said, “unelected institutions” do not represent the people of the country and maintaining institutional balance is the need of the hour. Fawad said decisions should be made by the masses, and added that decisions taken ‘behind closed doors’ did not have any importance.

Speaking about the Ramzan Sugar Mills reference, the PTI leader said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had not been indicted in the case. “When we speak about this [delay], it is considered as contempt,” he added.

Fawad said PM Shehbaz Sharif was going to be indicted in the money laundering case on the day of his oath-taking ceremony but “unfortunately it was put off”. “If justice is being done in this country, then it should be visible to everyone,” he said.

The PTI leader said former prime minister Imran Khan held the “biggest rally” in the history of Gujranwala on Saturday night and the “entire country” came out to express solidarity with him in different cities across the country.

“Millions of people turned up to listen to Imran Khan as his speech was shown on big screens in difference cities,” he added.

On the postponement of by-elections by the Election Commission, Fawad said incumbent rulers were running away from the polls and alleged that the electoral body made the decision to postpone by-polls “behind closed doors”.

“Election commission has wasted billions of rupees of the nation. Irresponsible people have been imposed on us and there is an administrative crisis within the ECP as they declared four million voters dead,” he remarked.

“The electoral body utilises taxpayers’ money but then suddenly cancels the elections,” he said.

He said that the ECP was facing an “administrative crisis due to the incompetence of the Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja and his team”.

He said that his party had filed a reference against ECP members in the Supreme Judicial Council but it has not been heard yet.

Reiterating his party’s allegations, the former information minister said that the PTI-led government was toppled through a ‘foreign conspiracy’ due to which he said the economy of the country has been destroyed.