The Supreme Court’s (SC) verdict on the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) petition against the delay in the elections to the Punjab Assembly did not come as a surprise. There should not be an element of surprise when an issue involves a constitutional requirement; the constitution allows the prime minister and chief ministers to dissolve assemblies as per their will and binds the Election Commission of Pakistan to hold elections within 90 days of the dissolution. The government, however, has unnecessarily charted uncharted waters to delay elections on one pretext or another.
The decision should be welcomed and the government must implement it, ensuring free, fair, and as-per-SC deadline elections. It should have been as “simple as one plus one equals two. One does not need an analyst to sum up the case.
The proceedings have, however, left scars on the judicial history of Pakistan. That is so unfortunate.
The three-member bench, comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, and Justice Munib Akhtar, nullified the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision to postpone polls till October 8 on the pretext of financial and security constraints.
The bench termed the ECP’s decision unconstitutional and fixed May 14 as the date for the elections in Punjab.
The court order seemed quite stern as the bench blamed the ECP’s unlawful decision for the delay of 13 days in holding the polls. The earlier date for elections had been fixed for April 30.
The Supreme Court ordered the election commission to reinstate its previous election schedule, however, with certain modifications.
As per the changes, the last date for filing appeals against the returning officer’s decision has been set for April 10, whereas the last date for the Appellate Tribunal to decide appeals is April 17.
The revised list of candidates will be published on April 18, and the last date to withdraw your candidacy before the publication of the revised list is April 19. On April 20, electoral symbols will be allotted to the candidates.
The bench also directed the federal government to release funds amounting to Rs21 billion by April 10 to conduct elections both in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
It also asked the ECP to inform the court about the release of the funds by April 11.
The Punjab caretaker government, inspector general, and chief secretary (security) were directed to provide the ECP with a security plan by April 10.
The verdict said the federal government was bound to assist the ECP in holding the elections.
The government, too, wasn’t surprised by the decision.
It had already sensed the court’s mood, and therefore the coalition partners expressed their reservations about the three-member bench.
Following the decision, Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar addressed a press conference and said the Supreme Court should have decided with “collective wisdom.” He reiterated that a full court should have heard the case.
He feared that the prevailing political situation would only aggravate.
Earlier in the day, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah stated that separate elections to the provincial assemblies would only create anarchy and chaos.
On the other hand, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) was over the moon.
The party’s vice chairperson, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, said the SC has buried the doctrine of necessity and restored the constitution.
He further said that a clear distinction had been made between democratic and constitutional forces as well as unconstitutional forces.
The last few weeks were no less than a drama. Every day had its episode.
The initial five-member bench that was hearing the petition was reduced to three after Justice Aminuddin Khan and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail recused themselves from the hearing.
Then the attorney general of Pakistan, Barrister Shehzad Ata Elahi, resigned or, as some sources said, asked to resign.
Irfan Qadir was then appointed in his place. The AGP asked the chief justice to put the case before a full court, which he declined to do.
The bench had reserved its judgement a day earlier after hearing from the government, the PTI, the ECP, and others.
It had directed Defense Secretary Hamood Zaman and Finance Additional Secretary Amir Mehmood to submit reports about the constraints that prevented the holding of elections in Punjab, which the defense secretary did on Tuesday.
A large number of lawyers and leaders of various political parties arrived in the courtroom ahead of the verdict, while security remained on high alert outside the Supreme Court building.
With this verdict, the government is bound to hold elections for the two provincial assemblies now. And, it is a wise thing to do. We need to give the country a breather. The last year has been a roller coaster ride for all. Now, is the time to let bygones be bygones. We need to stabilise the country, its economy and its security.
Political infighting is leading us nowhere. For once, our leaders, on both sides of the aisle, should let go of the confrontation.
