As the coalition government and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) failed to evolve consensus on election, the Supreme Court (SC) has adjourned the hearing of a petition seeking to hold general election to all the national and provincial assemblies simultaneously.
A three-member bench of the apex court, earlier in the day, had told both parties to develop consensus on election until 4 pm and affirmed that it would not back track from its earlier order which fixed May 14 as date to hold election to the Punjab Assembly.
The bench was headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial and comprised of Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar.
The coalition government informed the court in today’s hearing that it had decided to initiated dialogue on election with opposition after Eid-ul-Fitr. However, the court directed otherwise and ordered to hold the talk today.
The hearing did not resume at 4pm after the three-judge bench did not appear in the courtroom.
It emerged later in the day that a meeting between the CJP and Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan and Farooq H. Naek was took place in the former chambers.
After the meeting, Farooq Naek told reporters that the CJP had been informed that dialogue had been initiated with the PTI. The lawyer said that the hearing had been adjourned till April 27, however, the court has not yet issued a written order.
Meanwhile, AGP Awan said: “It was decided today to give each other some time.”
A number of political leaders including Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar, PTI leaders Fawad Chaudhry and Shah Mahmood Qureshi, PML-N leaders Khawaja Saad Rafique and Ayaz Sadiq, PML-Q’s Tariq Bashir Cheema, MQM leader Sabir Hussain Qaimkhani, JI emir Sirajul Haq and others attended the hearing today, which was held inside courtroom number 1.
At the start of proceedings, the CJP praised efforts of the Jamat-e-Islami chief for facilitating talks between the government and opposition.
The CJP expressed his gratitude over presence of all political parties representative and stated that the leadership was willing to address the problem at hand.
He remarked that consensus among all the political parties could help finding a solution.
PTI’s Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that his party respected the courts and asserted that the country could only move forward by upholding the Constitution.
Justice Bandial noted that both the Ministry of Defence and the petitioner were calling for simultaneous elections across the country. He also mentioned that the attorney general had previously raised a similar point, which had unfortunately been subject to political obstruction.
The chief justice cited newspaper reports indicating that the PPP and PML-N leadership supported dialogue as a means of resolving the issue, at which Naek informed the court about the presence of Khawaja Saad Rafique, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Tariq Bashir Cheema as well as MQM, and BNP representatives.
He told the court that the ruling political alliance believed that the 90-day period for elections had passed and that the court had already extended the date for polls twice.
Naek also stated that political parties had already started working together for the elections, with Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto meeting JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman on the matter.
He informed the court that they would meet with the PTI to end the ongoing tensions, with the aim would be to create a political consensus and said that the government coalition’s political dialogue would be completed immediately after Eid.
The PML-N representative Khawaja Saad Rafique said his party also wanted the polls to be held across the country simultaneously.
The representatives of other coalition parties also informed the court that they also support the idea of holding election at the same time.
However, the PTI representative pointed out to the provision of Constitution which called for holding election with 90-days of the dissolution of assemblies.
In his statement before the court, JI chief Sirajul Haq emphasised that the Constitution was created as a result of consensus and could serve as a tool for saving the country.
Haq told the court that infighting between political parties affected the people rather than the politicians themselves and emphasised that all the institutions, including political parties and the government, must remain independent.
He clarified that he did not contact the government or the PTI individually, clarifying that the decision was taken by his party after consultation.
The CJP urged political leaders to uphold the supremacy of the Constitution and hold a two-way dialogue to resolve the issue.
CJP Bandial also said that a court order could not be ignored. “Taking it back is not a joke. There is a procedure to dismiss the court order — those 30 days have also passed,” he added.
The hearing was subsequently adjourned till 4pm.
