Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial said on Friday that the Supreme Court would use the Constitution to implement its verdict of holding elections in Punjab on May 14 if the talks between the government and the PTI failed.
The top judge passed these remarks during the hearing of the petition seeking simultaneous elections across the country.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial comprising Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar heard the case
Today’s hearing
At the outset of the hearing, Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) lawyer Farooq Naek read out the report submitted over PTI-govt talks on the election date.
CJP Bandial emphasized the importance of political leadership in resolving political issues and also inquired about ongoing discussions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and asked if the budget was formulated under the guidelines of the IMF package.
The Chief Justice noted that the court had already issued a verdict regarding holding polls within 90 days, and further stated that the court would not sit idle with the verdict for the May 14 polls if the parties involved failed to reach a resolution. He stressed that the matter in court was constitutional, not political and that the Supreme Court had left political matters to political parties.
Naek explained that without the assemblies, it would be impossible to approve the budget and that this crisis would not have arisen if the assemblies of Punjab and KP were not dissolved.
The Chief Justice asked why the approval of the IMF agreement and trade policy were important, to which Naek replied: “Getting the IMF loan is key for the budget.” He added that the issue at hand would be resolved if an understanding was reached between the government and the opposition.
Justice Bandial also asked if the IMF loan would be used for reserves or the repayment of debts, to which Naek responded that only the finance minister could answer that question. The Chief Justice pointed out that even if the assemblies were dissolved, the Constitution gave a time period of six months for the budget. He also expressed concern that the issue was wasting a lot of the court’s time.
Not interested in PTI-govt talks
CJP remarked court is not interested in the PTI-government dialogue, however, court has left the matter on the political parties.
Farooq H Naik assured apex court that problems would be solved, on which, CJ replied, he only made tall claims.
Govt is lingering on the matter: Qureshi
PTI Vice President Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the country is being pushed towards constitutional crises. Talking outside the Supreme Court building, Qureshi said PTI has made its position before the court.
He said that government is not showing flexibility in talks and said despite the criticism, PTI sat at the negotiation table. Qureshi praised Law Minister for being an honest person.
He said PTI tried to build a political consensus but government has been making excuses and lingering on the matter.
PTI senior leader PTI accepted simultaneous elections demand of government and also assure that party would accept the results of upcoming elections but ruling government has not shown any flexibility.
Saad Rafique insists talks must go on
Railways and Aviation Minister Saad Rafique talking outside the court told media persons said that he represented government before the apex court.
Saad Rafique told court that political matters should be settled by the politicians themselves.
He also highlighted the background of the current situation in country and claimed PMLN has been facing disseminations from courts since 2017.
Saad Rafique pinned hopes that talks must continue among politicians and time is not far away when there would be consensus on all matters including date of simultaneous polls date.
He questioned, “Why Imran Khan can’t wait for some weeks for the sake of Pakistan.”
‘What’s the hurry,“ he questioned.
He said how would you dictate assemblies of Balochistan and Sindh.
PTI-govt talks report submitted
Meanwhile, the ruling alliance negotiations committee head and Finance Czar Ishaq Dar through Attorney General submitted final report of talks held with PTI over the election date.
In the report, it was noted that there was positive progress in the negotiations between the parties on the elections date issue, adding government allies showed flexibility.
It added government and the main opposition party have ended a crucial round of talks with a consensus on holding simultaneous national and provincial elections in the country.
The reply concluded that “As is evident from the foregoing, significant progress has been made since the dialogue process began. The coalition partners believe that political issues can best be resolved through dialogue and are ready to resume the same in the larger national interest.
