IN line with the latest verdict of the Supreme Court, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has issued a revised schedule of polls for the Punjab Assembly elections, which will be held on May 14. In a notification, the Commission said it was recalling its March 22 notification and partially modifying the March 8 notification. In its decision on Tuesday, the court not only bound the ECP to hold elections in Punjab on May 14 but directed the government to arrange the required funds of Rs21 billion and ensure foolproof security for the polls. However, there is still a lot of confusion whether or not the elections would be held on the date fixed by the apex court as political parties are sharply divided on this highly important but sensitive issue.
Stakes are high as the coalition partners have, once again, firmly rejected the verdict of the three-member bench of the SC, headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, and PTI has announced to bring disqualification reference against members of the cabinet rejecting the judgement. However, the government seems to be in an upbeat mood as reports suggest it was considering a three-pronged strategy to counter the SC verdict. At a virtual meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and attended by PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif from London, former President Asif Ali Zardari, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the leadership of the ruling alliance thoroughly reviewed the decision of the court and mulled over ways and means to give a solid response to the emerging situation. The participants of the meeting were of the view that parliament should assert its supremacy and there should be no apologetic approach while adopting a tough stance. The meeting decided to resist the verdict on all forums including parliament and considered filing a reference against the three judges of the apex court — Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar — who were part of the bench that on Tuesday fixed May 14 as the date for polls in Punjab after setting aside an Election Commission order. It is debatable whether or not a decision of the Supreme Court can be blocked through a parliamentary resolution, notwithstanding the reality that parliament is supreme in the constitutional scheme of things. It seems the coalition parties are not directly rejecting the verdict and wisely so as this would send a wrong message and instead wants to take refuge behind the power of parliament to avoid charges of contempt of the court. There are also plans worth consideration – enactment of ‘contempt of parliament’ law on the pattern of contempt of court which would apply across the board on all those found guilty of the contempt of parliament. On the other hand, PTI has also started contacting other parties in a bid to enlist their support in the fast expanding political fight. However, its efforts in this regard have so far not borne fruit as there was a strong resentment within the PTI itself for any contact with MQM while PPP has also given a cold-shouldered response to initial but subtle moves. Actions and reactions are unlikely to help in the given highly fluid and complex scenario and the differences can only be bridged over either through a political dialogue among all stakeholders or through a review petition which the government or affected parties can file against the verdict of the apex court. There are some legitimate points that need to be addressed by the Supreme Court and the review petition would provide an opportunity to do so. The points being agitated by the Government side include an infringement into the powers and domain of the Election Commission of Pakistan, irrational rejection of unanimous pleas of the coalition partners to form the full court to hear PTI’s petition about delay in holding of Punjab Assembly elections, verdict of the three-member bench was a decision of minority judges as four judges of the Supreme Court had already given their judgement against taking suo motu notice in the case, maintainability of the case/legality of the verdict in the presence of the verdict of the SC bench led by Qazi Faez Issa and pronouncement of the judgement in haste without properly hearing all interested and affected parties.
