Election Charge Expenditure Bill-2023 Presented in Parliament as SC Deadline Ends Today

By Special Correspondent

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Monday presented Election Charge Expenditure Bill-2023 before both houses of the parliament; the National Assembly and Senate of Pakistan.

The top court in its April 4 verdict had ordered the finance ministry to release Rs21 billion to the Election Commission of Pakistan to meet election-related expenditures for the Punjab polls ordered to take place on May 14. Speaker National Assembly and chairman Senate forwarded the bill to the concerned committees.

Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly, Ishaq Dar said the country was heading toward prosperity and became the 24th-largest economy in the world during the Nawaz Sharif’s tenure. “But he was disqualified in the Panama Papers and Imran Khan was ‘imposed’ on Pakistan in 2018,” he added.

He said foreign reserves were $24 billion and the growth rate was 6 percent when Nawaz Sharif was ousted and held Imran Khan responsible for the economic turmoil. “Incumbent govt inherited ill-economy,” Ishaq Dar said and added the PDM parties put their politics at stake for the survival of the state.

The finance ministry had prepared a summary for the federal cabinet which met for the second consecutive day on Monday and the Parliament regarding the provision of funds for Punjab elections. The finance ministry also mentioned difficulties in the availability of large sums of money for the elections in phases. The report further stated that every pool has its budget and expenses and if anyone of them is disturbed, there will be financial issues.

SC order

A three-member bench — comprising Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar declared the ECP’s order postponing the Punjab Assembly elections until October 8 as “unconstitutional” and ordered the federal government to release Rs21 billion funds for elections in Punjab by April 10.

Earlier, the Election Commission announced the new schedule for elections in Punjab which are now to be held on May 14.