The Chief Justice has retreated on the issue of forcing ‘conversation’ between political parties.
The three-judge panel has finished deliberating. Despite political parties’ best efforts, the Punjab election postponement lawsuit has not advanced.
It was reported on Thursday from ISLAMABAD that Pakistan’s Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial had stated that the courts have no power to compel political parties to negotiate, and that the Supreme Court was just seeking compliance with the Constitution and an end to the standoff over the postponement of elections.
The CJP emphasised that “we are not pushing anyone” and were instead “only finding out a way for the enforcement of the Constitution.”
The future of the Punjab Assembly remains unclear despite Supreme Court rulings directing elections to be place on May 14. A three-member bench led by CJ Bandial started hearing the matter on May 9.
According to Pakistan’s Attorney General Mansoor Awan, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani plans to form a committee of members from both parties to work out a compromise for holding elections for the national and provincial assemblies on the same day.
In the national interest, respect for the Constitution, and welfare of the people, the three-judge panel recommended that the political parties reach accord on one date for elections. The court was concerned that unless something was done, “nothing would change.”
Ali Zafar, representing Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, asked the court to set a deadline for reaching a political compromise.
The chief justice, however, has stated that the proposed committee would not be given a strict timeframe.
However, PTI leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi told the bench that no one from the government had contacted him since the last hearing, suggesting that they were not serious about conversation.
Nonetheless, he conceded that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had insisted that Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani call him. In addition, Qureshi informed the court that Sanjrani had asked him to suggest five people to serve on the proposed committee.
However, the PTI leader insisted that he was hesitant to organise a committee made up of senators. In response, the AGP indicated that the committee’s composition may be reconsidered.
MNAs rally together to oppose the Supreme Court’s position on election funding.
The government will “try to get both sides of the committee to hold their first meeting today,” Solicitor General Awan told the court.
Fawad Chaudhry, head of the PTI, countered that “even if political parties agree on a matter, they cannot change the Constitution” and that “only the Constitution is supreme, not the court nor the parliament.”
After hearing the parties’ closing arguments, the court adjourned for the day.
The Chief Justice further stated that “the court will issue appropriate orders,” and that “a written order will be issued for this case.”
In the previous hearing, the Supreme Court (SC) adopted a carrot-and-stick approach by stating that its order regarding the Punjab Assembly elections on May 14 would go into effect if all political parties did not quickly come to a consensus on the date for holding simultaneous general elections of the National Assembly and the four provincial assemblies.
On April 27, the three-person bench asked for an update after hearing that the political leaders would be holding a meeting the day before the deadline had passed (April 26).
The political parties did not demonstrate any sense of urgency and asked for a break on the last date of the hearing due to Eidul Fitr vacations, which the supreme court permitted.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Wednesday that the timing of elections should be decided in parliament and that either October or November would be a good time to hold them. He was speaking to separate gatherings of the parties in the ruling coalition, the PML-N parliamentary party, and the cabinet.
The PML-N has also placed the onus of initiating conversations with the PTI in the lap of the JUI-F, claiming that any discussions will take place at the parliamentary level following a decision by Maulana Fazl’s party.
