ISLAMABAD: Amidst boiling political temperatures and an apparent executive-judiciary tussle on the issue of Punjab polls, the Supreme Court will resume hearing on Thursday (today) at 11:30 am the suo motu case involving the delay in holding the general election to the provincial assembly.
Earlier, the top court had allowed political parties to decide on a date for polls but failed to initiate a dialogue as directed by the Supreme Court.
A Supreme Court’s three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial will resume hearing the polls delay the case.
At the last hearing, the bench had asked political parties to hold a dialogue before April 26 and come up with a reply on April 27. The Supreme Court had made clear that the talks should be held quickly as the May 14 date for the general election was still intact and the order was binding on all institutions, including the Election Commission of Pakistan.
At the last hearing, the Attorney General for Pakistan told the Supreme Court that it would be updated on the outcome of a talks among political parties on the date of elections on April 27.
The court had directed the ruling and opposition parties to immediately reach a consensus on the date of elections and update the bench by 4 pm, following weeks of hearings on holding elections to the Punjab Assembly.
The PPP and PML-N had assured the top court they would sit with the PTI and attempt to find a solution on the election date.
The court had ruled that a new date for the Punjab polls cannot be fixed until all political parties reach a consensus.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that “arbitration” was not the Supreme Court’s job and such matters should be discussed in the country’s parliament.
Address his cabinet in Islamabad, he said that the coalition government was united on its position that elections should be held across the country on the same day.
He said that October or November would be suitable for holding polls across the country, reiterating his government’s resolve to push for national and provincial assemblies’ elections to be held simultaneously.
The prime minister expressed his dismay over the SC’s verdict in holding elections in Punjab on May 14 during his and said that the matter of funds for polls would once again be sent back to the country’s parliament. The PM also stressed that all coalition parties were unanimous against ‘disconnected ‘elections in the country.
Addressing the National Assembly on Wednesday, Finance Ishaq Dar said that the government could only release funds for elections in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa if they followed due process as mentioned in the constitution. He clarified that the State Bank of Pakistan could not release funds independently.
Dar said that the ECP has asked for Rs54 billion for the 2022-23 general election, significantly higher than the allocated amount of Rs5 billion.
He also said there would be an extra expense of Rs14 billion for the early polls. He questioned whether the elections could be held within 90 days even if the requisite funds were disbursed.
He said that despite economic snags Rs35 billion are being spent on the current census, which is facing serious challenges. “Efforts are being made to complete the census despite the difficulties,” he added.
Dar questioned if Pakistan can afford the current financial problems for much longer and said that the country was emerging from the worst economic crisis.
Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar said a bill was tabled for approval in this regard, but the parliament rejected it.
Meanwhile, National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf has written a letter to chief justice conveying “profound concerns” of the elected parliamentarians over the Supreme Court order and some comments by judges, terming them an “encroachment” on parliament’s sphere.
The NA speaker has asked the Supreme Court to “as far as possible, avoid getting involved in the political thicket” and “it is best to leave the resolution of political matters by the parliament and the political parties”.
Ashraf urged the chief justice and pother judges “to exercise restraint and respect the legislative domain of the parliament”.
He said that National Assembly “strongly feels that these recent decisions amount to encroachment upon two core constitutional functions of the Assembly — lawmaking and power of the purse”.
He drew the CJP’s attention to various articles of the constitution that vest powers related to a money bill exclusively in the National Assembly and confer power and authority to approve expenditure from the Federal Consolidated Fund (FCF) on the elected members.
“I write to convey the profound concern and deep unease of the NA with the orders passed by a 3-member SC bench on April 14 and 19 directing the State Bank of Pakistan and Finance Division to allocate/release Rs21 billion to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP)” as “these orders have been passed notwithstanding that such release has expressly been forbidden by the NA”, he said.
“It is sadly noted that the 3-member bench’s orders have completely disregarded the constitutional process and the prerogative of the Assembly concerning financial matters,” Ashraf said, adding that the Supreme Court has ignored the National Assembly resolution and the rejection of the bill seeking allocations for the election funds and the recommendation of the National Assembly finance committee in this regard.
