PTI raises spectre of 'FATF grey listing' over govt crackdown.

LAHORE -- Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has given an irrational response to President Dr Arif Alvi's letter which drew his attention towards the constitutional provisions.

On Friday, Alvi wrote a letter to Shehbaz, asking him to direct the authorities concerned to assist the Election Commission of Pakistan with the holding of elections in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

In the letter, the president mentioned the holding of elections in the two provinces as per the timeframe, in compliance with the Supreme Court's order dated March 1, 2023 was essential to avoid further complications, including contempt of court.

Alvi's letter came in response to the ECP's decision of postponing the Punjab Assembly elections till Oct 8. The ECP had cited security threats and lack of funds behind delaying the elections.

Addressing a news conference along with PTI Secretary General Asad Umar, Azam Swati and others at the Lahore Press Club on Sunday, Fawad stressed that there was no other way to bring political stability in the country except by implementing the provisions laid out in the Constitution. He said, 'The prime minister did not respond logically even to a single question raised by the president in his letter. It seems that some Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) spokesperson wrote the prime minister's response.'

He said, 'What is happening in Pakistan today was not possible even in the worst monarchies. It seems that the 'Nazi' government has been imposed in Pakistan. We have left behind atrocities faced by the people of Burma and North Korea.'

He underscored that all eyes were now on the Supreme Court (SC), adding that owing to gross violations of human rights and restrictions on freedom of expression, there was qualmishness in the international community about the state of human rights in Pakistan.

He claimed that over 2,000 leaders and workers of his party had been arrested ahead of the PTI's Minar-i-Pakistan public rally on Saturday.

'People are being picked and rendered missing from Lahore. Azhar Mashwani went missing. It has been three days,' he highlighted.

He said the caretaker Punjab government had blocked all roads leading to Minar-i-Pakistan on the pre-text...