Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique on Friday expressed his disappointment on the disqualification of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Secretary-General Jahangir Tareen by the Supreme Court (SC).
Tareen was disqualified under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution for not revealing his 12-acre Hyde House property in the United Kingdom as asset, earlier today.
PTI chief Imran Khan, however, was given a clean chit in December 16 judgement given by the SC.
Speaking to reporters in Karachi on Friday, PML-N diehard Saad Rafique said the tradition of getting politicians disqualified from courts is condemnable, Express News reported.
“Whether it’s Jahangir Tareen or [former PPP prime minister] Yousuf Raza Gilani, politicians’ disqualification doesn’t make me happy,” he was quoted as saying.
“Taking political battles to courts isn’t a solution… I strongly condemn court verdicts of disqualifying politicians,” he added.
Rafique took the opportunity to repeat his party’s complaint that they are not being allowed to run the government in a smooth way.
“However, we are still firm despite all sorts of allegations against us,” he also said.
Highlighting his party’s stance on ‘protecting democratic setup’, Rafique said that Nawaz Sharif – the PML-N chief and disqualified prime minister – had always stopped the party leaders from becoming part of any bid to destabilize the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government.
“Good or bad, Nawaz Sharif directed us to let Zardari Sahib’s government continue for the sake of democracy,” he said.
