THE Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) moved swiftly to put the election process back on track after it was threatened by an untimely verdict of the Lahore High Court (LHC), which had suspended notification of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) regarding appointment of Returning and District Returning Officers. A three-member bench of the apex court led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Qazi Faez Isa, hearing petition of the ECP against the LHC decision, suspended the Lahore High Court order, paving the way for issuance of the election schedule which the Commission duly released and which will, hopefully, strike a final nail in the coffin of rumours about possibilities of a shorter or longer duration delay in the conduct of the polls.
Credit for ensuring continuation of the electoral process as per original deadlines surely goes to the Chief Justice, who took prompt notice of the brewing crisis, called the Chief Election Commission Sikandar Sultan Raja to discuss the grave situation along with other senior members of the court and ensured same-day hearing of the ECP petition against the decision of the Lahore High Court. The SCP intervention was understandable as during hearing of the case about fixation of the date of the polling, he had declared in unequivocal terms to underwrite adherence to the date which was announced after mutual consultations of President Dr Arif Alvi and the CEC. The Supreme Court was, therefore, supposed to play a decisive role and it is widely appreciated that it did so swiftly and potently. The court declared the decision of the LHC irresponsible, in haste and exceeding the jurisdiction and stopped further proceedings of the Lahore High Court on a petition filed by the PTI Additional Secretary General Umair Niazi and directed the Election Commission to issue the election schedule before midnight. As the judges considered the petition of PTI’s counsel an attempt to derail democracy and contempt notice was also issued to the petitioner. There was no doubt an attempt to cause a delay in the electoral process for reasons best known to the players involved as a petition was filed at a time when the ECP was about to issue the election schedule and the judge gave prompt relief despite knowing fully well that the date was fixed with the SCP intervention. There was also an impression that despite crucial nature of the issue with far- reaching significance for the electoral process and functioning of the democracy, the LHC showed no urgency to fix the case on a priority basis and a five-member larger bench was formed to hear it on 18 December , which effectively meant a delay in the entire process.
Political opponents claim that publicly PTI is demanding adherence to the electoral deadlines but actually it wants a delay as presently it was in disarray due to legal issues both in courts and in the ECP. It is also interesting to note that the date of February 08 was fixed in response to a petition by the PTI in the Supreme Court on the issue. In fact, the Lahore High Court was moved by the PTI with the apparent objective of influencing the electoral outcome in the country’s largest province as no such petition was moved in KP, Sindh or Balochistan against appointment of ROs and DROs from the bureaucracy. Legal experts wonder how the LHC could pass an order about the returning officers of all the provinces, especially when the apex court had also settled the issue of elections. The Lahore High Court also closed its eyes to the fact that the ECP first approached the judiciary but it was told the required manpower cannot be spared. It may also be mentioned that the CEC is a man of integrity and the ECP is working independently and it is the responsibility of the Commission to ensure fairness and transparency during all stages of the electoral process. This was also reiterated by the CEC during his chat with the newsmen outside the Supreme Court premises when he said if anyone had an objection to a particular returning officer, the Election Commission could be approached, and he could be replaced. Anyhow, we now have an election schedule and, hopefully, instead of wasting their energies on peripheral issues, all political parties would make conscientious efforts on electoral activities and strengthen the hands of the ECP in fulfilling its constitutional responsibility of holding polls in a free, fair and transparent manner.
