ISLAMABAD: The coalition government is on the verge of a battle with the Supreme Court after a three-member bench unanimously declared the Election Commission’s order delaying the Punjab elections unconstitutional.
Prime Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif on Wednesday described the action of the Supreme Court as terrible and said that the National Assembly (today) will pass a resolution rejecting the decision on Thursday.
Whatever happened in the Supreme Court proceedings, history has never witnessed such horrific scenes. It has been decided that the National Assembly will pass a resolution rejecting the decision,” Shahbaz said while addressing a consultative meeting of senior leadership of government allies.
JUI(F) chief Fazlur Rehman, Dr. Farooq Sattar, Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, ANP Mian Iftikhar Hussain, PMLN Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan and other allies were present in the meeting. The top leadership of the parties attended the meeting. Members
In the meeting, various options were considered for an effective response to the verdict, while Maryam Nawaz took a strong stand and said that the government should go beyond simply rejecting the verdict.
The prime minister said that the National Assembly is discussing what game was played with the constitution and democracy, it had passed a resolution before the decision and will pass another resolution (today) on Thursday.
He said that the Supreme Court did not discuss the decision to dismiss the petition by a majority of four to three, nor did it address the requests for change of benches and constitution of a full court bench.
He said political parties also requested to be parties to the case on various occasions but their requests were also rejected, while a judge who had expressed regret for being a part of the bench earlier, joined the hearing. happened
He said that according to the verdict, the government had to provide funds for the elections by April 10 and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had to inform the court on April 11 and submit the final report to the Chief Election Commissioner. Safety measures till April 17
He said that we are also discussing this issue.
He said that the federal cabinet discussed this sensitive issue in detail and later it was raised in the National Assembly where Law Minister and Khawaja Saad Rafiq also spoke openly.
He said that the meeting of the government allies was called to consult on the matter which was related to making fun of the constitution and law.
Shahbaz Sharif said that the coalition parties also held a consultation meeting with the lawyers community.
“We are here to take concrete decisions with collective wisdom,” he said.
PML-N leader Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari participated in the meeting through video link. Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz insisted that a reference be filed against the judges who were part of the three-member bench. The participants of the meeting were of the view that the Parliament should establish its supremacy and should not take apologetic attitude by taking a tough stance.
He said that there can be no compromise on the supremacy of the Parliament and the Constitution.
Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Energy Khurram Dastgir Khan said on Wednesday that the coalition government will challenge the basis of the Supreme Court’s decision to set the election date on May 14.
Speaking to the Capital Talk host, he said that according to him, it was a 4-3 decision but he said it was a 3-2 decision. He said that it was the mandate of the Election Commission to announce the election schedule, but the Supreme Court acted beyond its constitutional authority by fixing the date of the elections.
“It was the same April 9 case that we demanded. There were thirteen judges, eleven of whom said that suo motu jurisdiction applies. That’s what we still demand. We don’t want a ruling in our favor but Request that the case be tried in full court. If eleven of the thirteen judges declare that suo motu jurisdiction applies, we will accept it,” the PMLN leader said.
Dastgir said that after the sovereignty of Allah comes to the people. He said that the constitution not only mandates elections within 90 days but also emphasizes on equal treatment.
He said that the Parliament cannot stop the decision of the Supreme Court, but we have reservations about its decision. We suggest that the Chief Justice call the full court and decide whether it was a 3-2 or 4-3 decision so we can move on.
In a related development, the ruling coalition is mulling a three-pronged strategy to deal with pressure and ‘aggression’ from the judiciary. Parliament will be its “war arm” in the ongoing battle.
It has been decided to bring a strongly worded resolution to confirm the stand of the federal cabinet and government two days ago in the summit meeting of the alliance.
Top sources told JEE News on Wednesday evening that a code of conduct reference against three judges of the Supreme Court was to be submitted to the Supreme Judicial Council (SC) where a reference was filed against one judge on serious charges. . was already pending. Another piece of legislation to penalize “insult to parliament” will be debated alongside other proposals when ruling coalition leaders reconvene today (Thursday) for their third summit in less than a week. Will be. The proposed law would be in line with “contempt of court”, punishable by imprisonment and fines.
In cases of contempt of court, the punishment will be more severe than that prescribed. No one enjoying high status would be immune from the proposed law. Another proposal under discussion is the abolition of the prevailing contempt of court laws.
Interestingly, in most civilized countries there is no law against contempt of court considering it against human dignity.
Sources reminded that in cases of contempt, the common law of the land is applied in these countries. He said that Thursday’s meeting will finalize the strategy of the alliance.
Sources said that a joint statement will be issued after the huddle.
The allies will reject the decision of three-two and fully endorse the decision of three-four in their resolution and the same will be reflected in the resolution presented in the National Assembly today.
Sources say that PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif, PDM president Maulana Fazlur Rehman and PPP senior leader Asif Ali Zardari are on the same page as they have followed a strong plan of action on the issue. Consensus was created.
The PTI last week formed teams to reach out to other political parties to garner their support. His mission turned out to be a non-starter, as some disgruntled PPP “stalwarts” were already in touch with the PTI but lost influence in the party and failed to influence the party to change its position.
The resolution, which is being drafted by a committee of ministers from key coalition parties in the ruling coalition, will once again put pressure on the chief justice to constitute a full-court bench to look into the matter.
Federal Minister of Law and Justice Senator Azam Nazir Tarar is the point man of the committee of ministers.
