Responding to a statement by Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif that the PML-N would not tolerate contempt of courts, former law minister Babar Awan accused the PML-N of trying to use the “judicial card”. Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Awan asked the Supreme Court to take notice of the Punjab CM attempt to involve the judiciary into politics. He came down hard on the PML-N leadership, saying the PML-N was trying to create a rift between the provinces and using the judicial card. Terming Shahbaz’s statement a “declaration of war against democracy”, he said these threats were nothing more than a “storm in a tea cup” and PPP knew well how to tackle such political tactics. Awan said the PML-N should keep away from projecting itself as defendant of the judiciary, as video record of PML-N leaders and workers attacking courts were still available in archives. The former law minister questioned why the Supreme Court had not taken suo motu action against the corruption by the Punjab government. Awan said Shahbaz used third-grade language against the president, which would not be tolerated in the future. He advised the PML-N to abstain from “hurling war threats at the PPP, as it was in no mood to take all this”.
