ISLAMABAD: Top court on Monday urged both the government and former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party to resume election talks in order to end the political impasse, calling on all parties to play their part in maintaining peace and ending polarization in the country.
A 3-member bench of the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar resumed hearing of the matter on Monday as the May 14 deadline set by the top court for holding the polls expired a day ago.
The bench has also issued notices to all political parties, Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP), chief law officers of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in response to a review petition of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday granting them a week to submit reply in the matter.
It is worth mentioning that tension between the government and the judiciary began in April when the top court ordered elections to be held in the most populous Punjab province on May 14. The controversy was triggered when the PTI and its ally dissolved the provincial assemblies in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces in January to force the government to hold early elections.
Provisions of the Constitution of Pakistan stipulates that elections must be held within 90 days of the date of dissolution of an assembly. However, the government rejected the court’s order and said polls would be held across the country on the same date. It refused to comply with the court’s orders to issue Rs21 billion in funds to the ECP for elections in Punjab.
In earlier hearings of the case, the court had asked the government and PTI to resolve the political impasse in the country through dialogue, following which both sides held talks. Dialogue process broke down last week when incumbent government nabbed PTI’s chief Imran Khan, triggering nationwide protests that turned violent.
During adjudication of the matter, Chief Justice Bandial said while addressing the AGP and PTI’s counsel, “You should revisit the dialogue process – We don’t know anything about politics neither do we want to know”.
On resuming election talks, the Chief Justice said “the ball is in the AGP’s court,” adding that holding elections within 90 days is an important issue. He said the PTI counsel can talk to his leadership if the government invites the opposition for talks.
Justice Bandial asked the AGP Mansoor Usman Awan to explain to the court as to why the government’s dialogue with the PTI failed. Responding to the CJP query Awan submitted the government had tried its best to negotiate with the opposition saying the last round of talks was held on May 2.
“September was being discussed as the month for elections during talks,” Counsel for PTI Barrister Ali Zafar said. “However, the situation worsened all of a sudden,” he added, referring to Imran Khan’s arrest and the subsequent nationwide protests.
Ali Zafar submitted that it is everyone’s duty to ensure the implementation of Pakistan’s constitution.
“The manner in which political forces are operating is not right,” Chief Justice Bandial observed, saying People are losing their lives while institutions are under danger and being threatened. The Chief Justice referred to a protest by the ruling government alliance, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), which is currently underway outside the top court’s building. In a statement on Sunday, a PDM leader said the alliance had decided to protest against senior judges for granting ‘undue facilitation’ to Imran Khan.
“People were jumping over the walls [of the Supreme Court] today, it looked as if the government had failed,” the Chief Justice observed. “We will observe what happens within the next three to four days. We will continue to do our duty.” He plainly added the institutions must be respected.
Referring to some on air footage the Chief Justice said he had seen footage of people getting shot in last week’s protests, expressing alarm at the level of polarization in the country. “The executive and the opposition should both maintain high standards of ethics – It is mandatory to implement the constitution”, Chief Justice Bandial expressed.
Chief Justice Bandial asked Barrister Ali Zafar to speak to the PTI leadership on how polls can be held in such a polarized atmosphere. “You will have to create a high moral ground,”. Accepting the plea of AGP Awan for more time in the matter, the bench adjourned the hearing. The bench issued notices to the political parties, AGP, Advocate Generals for Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for May 23 in the matter. TLTP