Govt action against PTI: US says banning of political party a matter of ‘great concern’
The United States on Monday commented on Pakistan government’s recent decision to ban PTI, saying that any such moves against a political party was of “great concern” to it.
In its latest attempt to suppress the PTI, the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led federal government on Monday announced that it has decided to ban the party and seek Article 6 proceedings against its founder Imran Khan, ex-president Dr Arif Alvi, and former National Assembly (NA) deputy speaker Qasim Suri.
The move appeared to be an attempt to prevent the PTI from becoming the single largest party in the NA as the announcement was made on the heels of relief given to the party by the top court in the reserved seats case as well as to the party chief in the Iddat case.
US Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller commented on the development in the State Department’s daily news briefing yesterday.
“Our understanding is this is the beginning of what will be a complex political process,” he said, “But certainly banning a political concern is something — or a political party is something that would be of great concern to us.”
Miller said the US supports “the peaceful upholding of constitutional and democratic principles, including respect for human rights and freedom of expression”.
He said the US supported democratic processes such as rule of and equal justice under the law, adding that Washington will continue to “monitor the — these decisions and further decision — any further decisions by the courts”.
Miller also discussed political violence, given the recent attempt on Republican Candidate Donald Trump’s life.
While answering a question from a journalist who compared the recent incident to the assassination attempt on incarcerated leader Imran Khan’s life in November 2022, Miller said that the US abhors “political violence in any country, including Pakistan, and have spoke out against it and condemned it”.
“And we support the rule of law in Pakistan and every country in the world, and we want to see respect for democratic principles and people’s fundamental human rights and democratic rights upheld,” he added.