PM to be judged on words spoken in parliament

• SC summons text of PM Sharif’s speech in joint session of Parliament in PM disqualification case
• Justice Khawaja says PM’s words on the floor of House are ‘public property’

The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday summoned the text of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s August 29 speech in the Parliament, saying any words uttered in the House are public property and should be available to the people.

A three-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Jawwad S Khawaja, is hearing identical petitions filed by former member of the National Assembly and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Ishaq Khan Khakwani, Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Gohar Sindhu advocate.

The petitioners have requested the court to disqualify Sharif under Article 62 (F) of the Constitution, claiming he made a false statement during a joint sitting of the Parliament over the role of the Pakistan Army in negotiations with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) to end the anti-government sit-ins staged by the two parties in Islamabad.

Khakwani and Shujaat assert that the PM told the House on August 29 that he had asked Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif to act as mediator and guarantor between the government and PTI Chairman Imran Khan and PAT Chairman Dr Tahirul Qadri for ending the political impasse.

During Wednesday’s hearing, Sindhu said that the PM continues to stand by his earlier statement, adding that the interior minister had also issued false statements on the matter. He further said that the government had approached the Army chief to act as a negotiator and a guarantor in order to deal with the sit-ins staged by PTI and PAT.

Responding to Justice Khawaja’s question as to whether the petitioners could not obtain a record of the PM’s speech from the day in question, Sindhu said he had filed a request for the text but so far it had not been granted.

Justice Khawaja said that the text of the PM’s speech on the floor of the House was public property but added that the SC’s research staff had also not been able to obtain the text when it approached government channels for the same.