National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf on Wednesday said that the consequences of the possible disqualification of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif should be “feared”.
“Fear the time [when such a situation comes to pass]. I am saying this as a political worker to let go of emotions, anger, stubbornness and ego. No one knows what will happen then,” he said, adding, “What will become of the country […] in this chaos?”
The NA speaker expressed these views during an interview a private TV channe, when asked whether the government could send the chief justice of Pakistan packing if the premier was disqualified.
His remarks come against the backdrop of a stand-off between the government and the higher judiciary on elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Supreme Court’s pre-emptive order to render a bill curtailing the powers of the chief justice of Pakistan as ineffective even once it becomes law. The bill became an act of Parliament on April 21 after it was deemed to have been assented by the president under clause (2) of Article 75 of the Constitution, a statement issued by the National Assembly Secretariat said.
Given the situation, Ashraf was asked whether the imposi tion of martial law was a possibility, to which he replied, “Anything can happen.
“I believe that the country is being taken to a point where even martial would be of no effect […],” he said.
