THERE were two important developments on Wednesday with regard to functioning of the legislatures — Lahore High Court released its judgement in the case of election of Punjab Chief Minister and Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri deliberately delayed the next session of the National Assembly by one week to advance the political agenda of his party.
It is regrettable that we all claim to be democrats but show scant respect for the Constitution, law and democratic principles and traditions when it comes to protection and safeguarding of vested interests.
The election of Chief Minister in Punjab has unnecessarily been delayed and as a result the doors of the judiciary had to be knocked.
Now LHC has not only restored powers of the Deputy Speaker, which should not have been taken away in the first place, but also ordered holding of the election on the next scheduled date of April 16.
It has also been made clear by the court that no member should be barred from voting, which would, hopefully discourage plans to deny the right of vote to several members as part of the strategy to deny numerical edge to Hamza Shehbaz.
We hope that the court order would be implemented in letter and spirit so that transition takes place smoothly in the largest province of the country.
As for uncalled for rescheduling of election for the Speaker of the National Assembly (from the previous date of April 16 to April 22), the Deputy Speaker, who already has a resolution of no-confidence against him, is apparently misusing his powers but is unlikely to gain anything substantial except getting some more time to pressurize the NA Secretariat staff to process resignations of his party members.
Political expediency notwithstanding, there should be no obstruction in the smooth working of the assemblies.
