Pakistan PM Shehbaz accuses judiciary of adopting double standards

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday accused the judiciary of having "double standards" with their treatment of different political parties. The prime minister's criticism of the judiciary came a day after the Supreme Court struck downPunjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari's ruling and removed his son and fellow PML-N leader Hamza Shehbaz as the province's chief minister.Addressing a session of the National Assembly, Shehbaz said that while he respected the courts, he was also an elected representative and questioned "when the truth would be spoken, if not today." Talking about the PTI's foreign funding case, PM Shehbaz said that the verdict related to the case has not been announced even after eight years. "Did anyone take suo motu notice of that case over the last eight years?" he questioned. As per Dawn report, Pe reiterated that he greatly respected the judiciary and was only talking about "double standards", adding that it was his right to do so as an elected representative of the people.

PM Shehbaz said the Constitution outlined the role and jurisdiction of the courts and other institutions, within which they were supposed to work. He lamented that in the 75 years that had passed, the Constitution was tampered with and martial law established, causing Pakistan to break in two and impeding democratic growth. The prime minister went on to say that the country cannot progress if there is no justice. "The times are tough but we will make Pakistan great by fighting this fascism," he added.

Meanwhile PTI Chairman Imran Khan Wednesday claimed that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), in connivance with PML-N leader Hamza Shahbaz, tried to defeat us in the Punjab by-polls. In a televised speech, Khan said that they [coalition government] “disrespected the public” by considering them “sheep and goats” and tried imposing “corrupt people" on them. he said that there was only one way to come out of the crisis. “A new election commission should be formed to conduct transparent elections,” he said, adding that Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) could have stopped rigging as results are announced as soon as polling ends and "it can stop 130 methods of rigging."