LAHORE, Apr 1 (APP): The coalition government Saturday demanded that elections across the country should be held on the same day as it was a basic constitutional prerequisite for impartial, transparent and free polls and any deviation from it would create a disastrous political crisis for the country.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired the meeting of the allied parties in the government.
Former president Asif Ali Zardari, chief of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, and leaders of other parties attended the meeting through video link.
According to a statement issued here, the leaders considered in detail the overall political situation in the country and held consultations on future strategy.
They said any deviation would be similar to a suicide attack on the economic interests of the country. The meeting made it clear that the conspiracy to create an unending political and constitutional crisis under the pressure of a party which was attacking the state institutions with its gangs, would not be acceptable in any way.
They were of the view that unfortunately an administrative issue was turned into a political and constitutional crisis and ignoring of economic, security, constitutional, legal and political affairs would be akin to neglecting interests of the state.
They said the haste to achieve a particular objective for giving relief to a party looked like a political agenda and it was against the constitution, law and authority of the Election Commission.
According to article 218(3) and other articles of the constitution, holding the election was the prerogative of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and according to the Constitution, “Supreme Court should not interfere in the authority of an independent and autonomous Election Commission”. They said the four honourable judges of the Supreme Court gave the same verdict in the suo moto case number 1/2023.
The meeting expressed its “no confidence in the three-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice and comprising Justice Ijaz ul Hasan and Justice Muneeb Akhtar and demanded that the majority decision of the four members in the suo moto case 1/2023 should be accepted and the current judicial proceedings should be stopped”.
“It is unfortunate that the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court wanted to impose the decision of the minority on the decision of the majority,” they said.
They said this behaviour was not only a clear example of a grave constitutional and political crisis in the country but was also evident of “deviation from the constitution” and laid down legal procedure, which was a “flagrant violation of the basic concept of separation of powers of the state”.
The meeting raised the issue that a bench headed by a senior most judge of the Supreme Court Justice Qazi Faez Isa ordered the suspension of hearing of all cases under article 184(3) of the constitution, adding that contradictory court decisions had created an unimplementable and complex situation and respect of the decision of the bench of Justice Qazi Faez Isa was also mandatory for everyone.
The leaders demanded that action should be initiated on the references filed by Pakistan Bar Council and other associations under article 209.
They clarified that Justice Ijaz ul Hasan had already voluntarily recused himself from the bench in this particular case, so he could not be part of the present bench.
In this respect, orders of Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail were clear and it all was present on the record.
The meeting urged the Chief Justice of Pakistan to listen to the dissenting voices rising from the benches of the Supreme Court as chief of the institution and immediately form a full court to negate the impression of “one man show”.
They declared that the “verdict of the three members on the issue of article 63A was the cause of political instability and through it the constitution was re-written”.
They also stated that clear division could be seen in the thinking of the Supreme Court, therefore the apex court should refrain from issuing controversial political decisions.
It was urged that the impression regarding the Chief Justice and some other judges that they were adopting a special discriminatory attitude in the matter of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), should be removed. They also highlighted “that those who are advising politicians to take decisions by sitting together are also divided and they should create unity and unanimity among themselves”.
Federal Minister for Law Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar informed the leadership about the legislation enacted in the Parliament about article 184(3) of the constitution and briefed on the situation arising out of the conflicting decisions and formation of benches.
The meeting fully supported the recent legislation in the Parliament and said the legislation had removed obstacles in the way of justice.
The new legislation had put a stop to the path of one-sided justice to the people and gave them the right to appeal which was according to natural justice and the basic intent of the constitution. The Parliament had given a clear opinion about the article 184(3) through its legislation, they said , adding Parliament was a supreme institution and its opinion should be respected by all.
The meeting expressed the hope that the “President will not become a hurdle in this legislation on the basis of his party affiliation”.
Meanwhile, Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar briefed the participants about the economic situation in the country.
Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui of Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Aminul Haque, Sardar Akhtar Mengal, Hashim Notezai, Dr Abdul Malik Baloch, Muhammad Tahir Bizenjo, Mehmood Khan Achakzai, Shafiq Tareen, Amir Haider Hoti of Awami National Party, Mian Iftikhar Hussain, Dr Khalid Magsi of Balochistan Awami Party, Chaudhry Salik Hussain, Tahir Bashir Cheema, Nawabzada Shahzain Bugti, Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Khawaja Saad Rafiq, Rana Sanaullah, Rana Tanvir Hussain, Marriyum Aurangzeb, Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan, Attaullah Tarar, Allama Sajid Mir, Aslam Bhotani, Moulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, Shah Awais Noorani, Kamran Murtaza, Mohsin Dawar, Farooq H Naik, Murtaza Wahab, Sheeraz Rajpar, and others attended the meeting.
