The sentencing of 1108 individuals convicted of arson and rioting by a Faisalabad Anti-terrorist Court adds to the woes of the PTI, for those convicted includes members of both Senate and National Assembly, who will now be disqualified by the Election Commission of Pakistan. Not since 9 May 2023 itself did the PTI suffer such a grievous blow, for those convicted include those who remained firm since then, who refused to hold the customary press conference abjuring the PTI and all its deeds, dissociating themselves from the party, and retiring from public life, all the while raising slogans in favour of the Pakistan Army. While earlier the Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly, Ahmad Khan Bhachar was disqualified after conviction, the present batch of convictions will end up depriving the PTI of the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Gohar Ayub Khan, and in the Senate, Shibli Faraz. Other Senators have been disqualified, including Ejaz Chaudhry from Punjab, which means the seat will be flipped, as the PML(N) will win the by-election.
What will happen in the National Assembly by-elections in Punjab, where seats are going to be vacated in Gujranwala, Dera Ghazi Khan and Multan districts, cannot be predicted, as by-elections usually go the way of the ruling party in the province, but the convicted MNAs were all sitting on large majorities, not to forget that two of them were sitting for multi-generational seats. Then there is the PTI’s problem that over two years down the line, the trial of party patron-in-chief Imran Khan for the May 9 events. He is already behind bars and disqualified from the Assemblies for corruption cases, but he is seen as the architect of the May 9 events, which included attacks on both military installations and monuments. The Faisalabad ATC, for example, convicted those involved in an attack on the regional HAQ of a sensitive agency.
It is clear that the demands of justice must be met. That the ATC was a civilian court was a positive, for the insistence of trial by military courts gave the impression that the establishment did not think the regular courts would give a fair shake. It may have taken more than two years, but the verdicts should enhance faith in the system. The PTI and those affected have said they will appeal. This is only as it should be, in a civilian-led process of the rule of law.
