ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar on Monday, a few hours before the Supreme Court’s deadline to distribute Rs 21 billion to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for the general elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Presented a bill relating to funds. .
Titled “Charged Sims Bill 2023 for General Elections to Provincial Assemblies of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa”, the bill was tabled in both the Houses of Parliament – National Assembly and Senate – on behalf of the Federal Cabinet on a summary prepared by the Ministry of Finance. A few minutes after approval. Expenditure on elections
The Supreme Court in its judgment of April 4 had directed the federal government to release and provide Rs.21 billion funds to the Election Commission by April 10.
Presenting the bill in the National Assembly, the Finance Minister said that it is now the responsibility of the Parliament to decide whether funds should be released to the ECP or not.
Federal Minister for Finance Mr. Ishaq Dar introduces in National Assembly a bill pertaining to funds for general elections in Punjab and KPK pic.twitter.com/cKpJOwyZKB
— National Assembly of 🇵🇰 (@NAofPakistan) April 10, 2023
Expressing his views in the lower house, Dar said that the order of early elections by the Supreme Court was not in the national interest due to the security and economic situation.
The finance minister said that the elections in all the assemblies should be held on the same date, adding that the government placed the bill before the parliament in light of the Supreme Court’s orders to release Rs 21 billion to the ECP.
The finance minister reminded that the lower house had also passed a resolution that the Supreme Court’s order in the automatic notice regarding the conduct of elections in Punjab was a 4-3 decision and the 3-0 decision was a minority decision and it was “not implemented”. will be done”
He further said that the Federal Cabinet deliberated on the orders of the Supreme Court in its recent meeting and taking into consideration the resolution of the National Assembly, the Parliament to take the final decision regarding the allocation of funds for the general elections to the provinces. The will is sought. Assemblies of Punjab and KP
‘Simultaneous elections will reduce expenditures’
The Finance Minister said that the coalition government has full faith in the supremacy of Parliament and the rule of law and the Constitution.
Dar said that holding elections is a constitutional obligation but for this it is necessary that the polling of the national and all provincial assemblies should be conducted simultaneously under a supervisory setup.
He said that this will not only reduce expenses but also ensure free, fair and transparent elections.
The finance minister recalled that the PTI government had brought the country to the brink of default by violating the sovereign commitments made with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), adding that this would lead to Pakistan’s Reputation was also damaged.
Pakistan is in danger of defaulting on its debts, the IMF bailout program has been stalled since November, while the government and former Prime Minister Imran Khan are in a fierce political battle.
The cash-strapped country is in desperate need of funds, with foreign exchange reserves of around $4.2 billion barely covering a month’s worth of imports.
National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf adjourned the meeting till 2 pm on Thursday (April 13) and sent the bill to the relevant standing committee.
Session of the National Assembly has been adjourned to meet again on Thursday, the 13th April 2023 at 2:00 pm.@appcsocialmedia @MoIB_Official
— National Assembly of 🇵🇰 (@NAofPakistan) April 10, 2023
Following the development, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lodged a strong protest against the development, calling out the coalition government for its “misconduct”.
“One year after the regime change plot, the puppet crime minister [and] his gang of thugs formalized fascism to [parliament] block elections [and] end the [independence] of the judiciary.” Being dragged,” former human rights minister and senior PTI leader Shireen Mazari wrote on Twitter.
A year after regime change conspiracy, puppet CrimeMinister & his gang's strings being pulled to formalise fascism using Parl to stop elections & end indep of Judiciary. Pak econ in freefall & ppl on terrorist watch list being given official TV space! #امپورٹڈ_Øکومت_نامنظور
— Shireen Mazari (@ShireenMazari1) April 10, 2023
A day earlier, the Cabinet had decided to refer the issue of allocation of funds to Parliament keeping in view the April 6 National Assembly resolution.
Through the resolution, the House asked the government not to implement the decision of the three-judge bench, which had ordered the ECP to hold the Punjab Assembly elections on May 14, calling it unconstitutional and against the law. .
Instead, the National Assembly, through a resolution, maintained that a four-judge majority decision would be acceptable.
The federal cabinet had on Sunday directed the finance minister – who has postponed his US visit on the prime minister’s direction – to prepare a summary for the release of election funds for the guidance of Parliament.
During Sunday’s meeting, Prime Minister Law Minister Nazir Tarar apprised the cabinet about the Supreme Court directives and all legal and constitutional aspects of release of funds to ECP.
