TLP leaders issue statement on vote of no-confidence
In statement, rightwing group urges Supreme Court to protect Constitution and warns of protests and sit-ins against any tampering attempts
The rightwing Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) on Wednesday demanded the Supreme Court of Pakistan fulfill its responsibility to “protect” the Constitution, as it accused Imran Khan of “conspiring” to abrogate the Constitution and impose a presidential system on the country.
In a statement issued after a meeting of the TLP Central Shura, the party’s Supreme Council chairman, Pir Zaheerul Hasan Shah, alleged that a plan had been hatched to impose a presidential system in Pakistan after revoking the Constitution. Flanked by TLP chief Saad Rizvi—who chaired the meeting of the Central Shura—he demanded the Supreme Court probe the conspiracy and fulfill its duty to ensure the Constitution was not harmed in any way.
According to Shah, the TLP would never allow anyone to damage the country’s Constitution, as it was drafted through the result of “sacrifices” of religious leaders and the people of Pakistan. He said the Constitution protected Islamic values guaranteeing religious, personal and political freedoms and warned that the TLP would respond to any attempts to tamper with the Constitution through sit-ins and rallies nationwide along the pattern of its Faizabad dharna of 2017.
Claiming that any validation by the apex court of the deputy speaker’s ruling to dismiss a vote of no-confidence against Prime Minister Imran Khan could open the way for the appointment of “non-Muslims” as president or prime minister, the TLP leader alleged that anti-Islamic lobbies were trying to impose imposing a presidential system in Pakistan to remove Islamic beliefs from the Constitution.
Shah accused the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, the Pakistan Peoples Party, and the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) for the ongoing constitutional and political crises in the country, accusing them of being responsible for the “blood of TLP martyrs.” Claiming that “dictators in the garb of democrats” had prevented Pakistan’s Muslim population from “enjoying the fruits of the Constitution,” he claimed that if the Constitution had been followed in letter and spirit, the TLP’s demands would have been the demands of the state of Pakistan.
The TLP went on allege that granting speakers the authority to issue unilateral rulings could result in alterations to the definition of a Muslim in the Constitution, hinting it could lead to the country revoking laws declaring Ahmadis non-Muslims.