ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court is all set to resume hearing a case related to elections in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa as the government and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) failed to sort out the issue and finalise a date for elections.
The talks between the PDM coalition parties government and the PTI aimed to develop a consensus on a single date and day for elections across the country, but the negotiations concluded without an agreement. Later, the PTI told the top court in a report that no agreement could be made, asking it to implement its previous order for holding elections in Punjab on May 14.
At the last hearing on April 27, the three-member Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial had said that its April 4 command on Punjab elections remained unaffected.
Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar are two other members of the three-member bench.
After the PTI submitted its report on negotiations with the PDM government, the latter is also expected to report to the court on Friday (today) about the outcome of the talks.
The Election Commission of Pakistan on Wednesday asked the top court to revisit its order on the Punjab election, stating that only the poll body was authorised to alter the poll programme under Section 58 of the Elections Act 2017.
At the April 27 hearing, the top court asked the political parties to sit together for the sake of the Constitution and develop a consensus for holding elections across the country in one go.
The PTI said earlier that it was ready to accept simultaneous polls if the National Assembly and Sindh and Balochistan assemblies were dissolved on or before May 14 so nationwide polls could be held in July.
The PTI had also proposed that PTI lawmakers would rejoin the National Assembly, and a one-time constitutional amendment validating the delay in polls beyond 90 days for Punjab and K-P assemblies shall be carried out by mutual agreement of the political parties.
However, the PTI said in the report submitted to the Supreme Court that the government rejected its proposals and instead suggested that the National Assembly and Sindh and Balochistan assemblies could be dissolved on July 30, after which polls would be held across the country in 90 days, in the first week of October.
