The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday (today) resumed hearing a plea seeking to hold general elections to all the national and provincial assemblies in the country simultaneously.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar is hearing the case.
During the previous hearing, the apex court had said it was ready to show flexibility, provided political parties came to a consensus on elections, but at the same time made it clear that it was difficult for the court to go back on its order fixing May 14 as the date for elections to the Punjab Assembly.
The court had issued notices to the PTI, PML-N, PPP, JUI-F, MQM-P, BNP-Mengal, Awami National Party, Balochistan Awami Party, PML-Q, the law secretary, Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan and Jamaat-i-Islami, asking the parties to send their senior office-bearers for today’s proceedings.
A day earlier, the court heard identical pleas —filed by the defence ministry and a citizen — seeking elections to all the assemblies at the same time. It had, however, declared the defence ministry’s plea as inadmissible.
Ahead of the hearing today, 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 arrived at the court.
The hearing
At the outset of the proceeding, CJP Bandial lauded the efforts of JI’s Haq on holding a dialogue between the government and the opposition, saying that the court would also do its part in this “good deed”.
For his part, PTI’s Qureshi said that his party respected the courts and asserted that the country could only move forward by upholding the Constitution. “We are with the SC, let’s see what is the government’s stance,” he added.
At that, the petitioner’s counsel, Shah Khawar, informed the court that representatives of a number of political parties were present in the courtroom and suggested that each leader should be given a chance to speak.
The counsel also requested that elections should be held simultaneously throughout the country.
Acknowledging the presence of the political leaders, the CJP expressed his gratitude and stated that the leadership was willing to address the problem at hand.
He cautioned that relying solely on court orders to find a solution could lead to complications, but acknowledged that political parties working together could pave the way for a solution.
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 CJP noted that Farooq H. Naek, representing the PPP, had also expressed support for the same argument, but a boycott prevented progress.
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.
Subsequently, PML-N representative and Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique came to the rostrum and reiterated the PPP’s stance. He said that his party also wanted elections to be held simultaneously.
“We don’t want anarchy and unrest in the country,” he said, stressing that PML-N believed in dialogue and wanted to derive solutions to political issues through negotiations.
Rafique also said that the PML-N had called a meeting of allies after Eid and was ready to talk to the opposition.
After Rafique, the representatives of all the allied parties — MQM, BNP and PML-Q — told the court that they wanted elections to be held at the same time and supported dialogue.
The court then called PTI’s Qureshi to the rostrum.
The petition
The petition, filed by citizen Sardar Kashif Khan, said that in the prevailing situation in Pakistan, it was best to hold general elections to all the assemblies at the same time, instead of in a piecemeal manner.
“The holding of general elections for the National Assembly and all the four provinces would mean that all general elections being held simultaneously would be under caretaker governments, which would ensure that the elections are carried out honestly, justly, fairly and in accordance with the law,” it said.
The plea highlighted that holding all the elections together would result in “savings of billions of rupees” and allow for poll funds to be duly budgeted in FY2024.
“The simultaneous holding of elections will also require the availability of police and armed forces only once as opposed to multiple times, allowing them to devote more time to their principal duties. It will also allow law enforcement agencies and armed forces to immediately focus on improving law and order situation in the lead up to the combined general elections.”
It also highlighted that until the digital census, underway across the country, would also be completed.
Furthermore, the petition pointed out that even the PTI had now “conceded” that it would be in the best interest to hold general elections at the same time.
Executive-judiciary impasse on polls
Earlier this month, the SC had directed the government to provide Rs21 billion to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to conduct elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by April 10, and directed the electoral body to provide a report on whether or not the government complied with the order on April 11.
However, the government referred the matter to Parliament which defied the court’s orders and refused to issue the funds.
Last week, the electoral watchdog had submitted a report to the Supreme Court in a sealed envelope. Though the contents of the report are not known, a source privy to the information told Dawn that the one-page report informed the apex court about the government’s reluctance to issue the Rs21bn needed for the purpose.
Subsequently, the court had directed the SBP to release funds worth Rs21bn for elections from Account No I — a principal component of the Federal Consolidated Fund worth Rs1.39 trillion — and send an “appropriate communication” to this effect to the finance ministry by April 17.
Following the top court’s orders, the central bank on Monday allocated the funds and sought the finance ministry’s nod to release the amount.
The federal cabinet’s approval was required to release the amount from the FCF, while the government has to get the National Assembly’s approval for its release. But the same day, the coalition government managed through the NA the rejection of its own demand for the provision of Rs21bn as a supplementary grant to the ECP for holding polls in the two provinces.
On Tuesday, the ECP, defence ministry and finance ministry submitted their respective reports in court.
The ECP report said that the staggering of elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was not feasible since it involved significant expenditures compared to holding of polls on the same day.
In its report, the defence ministry highlighted the need of holding the elections on the same day given the heightened security situation in the country. It also said that the armed forces would be able to carry out election duties by early October.
On the other hand, the finance ministry said that in the wake of the rejection on part of the National Assembly to a government-sponsored motion to grant Rs21bn to the federal government for meeting expenditures, other than charged, during the financial year ending June 30, 2023, in respect of the ECP for holding the elections in Punjab and KP, it was difficult to sanction the release of the funds.
This is a developing story that is being updated as the situation evolves. Initial reports in the media can sometimes be inaccurate. We will strive to ensure timeliness and accuracy by relying on credible sources such as concerned, qualified authorities and our staff reporters.
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