The decision of the Supreme Court is a prelude to 'Pakistan's victory' for some and a 'serious constitutional crisis' for others.
A three-member bench of the Supreme Court,
headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Atta Bandial, annulled the Election
Commission's decision to hold elections on October 8 and ordered those
elections to be held on May 14 in Punjab.
The Supreme Court declared the Election
Commission's March 22 order to hold elections on October 8 as
'unconstitutional' and said that the Election Commission had 'exceeded its
jurisdiction'.
The Supreme Court declared that the
election schedule canceled by the Election Commission of Punjab will be
implemented, while a decision will be taken at an appropriate forum after
seeing the situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The Supreme Court has also made the details
of the Punjab election schedule a part of its decision after a few amendments.
In this context, the Supreme Court has
ordered the federal government to release 21 billion rupees required for the
elections by April 10, while the Election Commission has been ordered to submit
a report on the status of funds to the Supreme Court on April 11. Similarly,
the federal and caretaker governments of Punjab have also given a timeline to
take steps in this regard.
This decision of the Supreme Court was welcomed by the leaders of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf, but the Federal Law Minister criticized this decision.
Leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf Fawad
Chaudhry says that the decision of the Supreme Court is a decision to protect
the rights of every Pakistani citizen. "Congratulations to the nation on
the victory of the Constitution." Faisal Chaudhry, a lawyer associated
with Tehreek-e-Insaf, has termed it as a "decision for the future of
Pakistan" and said that "the people of Pakistan will also protect
this decision." They are standing with their judiciary against any
unconstitutional measures. He also thanked the Supreme Court for 'burying
the theory of necessity'.
Shehbaz Gul tweeted that 'during the tenure
of Chief Justice Bandyal Sahib, we were severely oppressed and tortured, but
despite all this, we always respected him as a judge. Today, Bandyal Sahib
bandaged our wounds by deciding on law and justice. We are grateful to them.
While Tehreek-e-Insaf is expressing
happiness over the decision of the Supreme Court, the leaders of Pakistan
Muslim League-Nawaz are expressing disappointment over this decision.
Prime Minister Nazir Tarar says that he was
saddened by the decision of the three-member bench of the Supreme Court. He
expressed the apprehension that the ongoing political and constitutional crisis
in Pakistan will become more serious after this decision.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad,
he said that the way the Supreme Court is being run, the way the benches are
being formed, senior judges are being kept away from the benches. We are afraid
that the situation may turn into a serious constitutional and political crisis, and the country cannot afford it. We request the Chief Justice to sit a 13-member
bench and settle all these matters.
Khawaja Saad Rafiq also expressed similar
views. He says that the decision of the three-member bench seems to deepen the
constitutional and political crisis. He tweeted that 'Senior judges of the
Supreme Court were not listened to and neither were the orders. The request of
the political parties to be heard was rejected and the plea of the full court
was also rejected. He says that the internal division of the Supreme Court is a
very sad matter.
Muslim League-N leader Mohsin Ranjha while
reacting to the decision of the Supreme Court said that Pakistan will be run by
its elected representatives and the elected representatives of Pakistan are
saying that a full court should be made, then a full court would have been made
and then all the parties would be satisfied with whatever decision was made.'
He further said that releasing the election
schedule is the legal authority of the Election Commissioner, but the
surprising thing for us is that this schedule was also released by the Supreme
Court.
On the other hand, many questions are being
asked by journalists and analysts on the decision of the Supreme Court.
Journalist Asma Shirazi asks that 'Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa elections will continue for ninety days, why is the constitution
silent there?'
Journalist Hamid Mir tweeted that 'The
Supreme Court's order to hold elections on May 14 is welcome, but the formation
of a six-member bench headed by Justice Ijazul Hassan and the inclusion of
Mazahir Akbar Naqvi in it is extremely regrettable. Decisions will come, this
is Justice Munir's way, not Justice Cornelius's.
Journalist Roy Shahnawaz asks that the question is that the constitutional period which is mentioned in the constitution i.e. holding elections within 90 days after the end of the assemblies was not fulfilled even by this order of the Supreme Court. This clearly means that the matter is more of a fight between the powerful than the constitutional. Will the game end here now?
Analyst Talat Hussain says that he does not see the implementation of the decision of the Supreme Court regarding holding elections on May 14 in Punjab.
Speaking to the BBC, he said that the
federal government had already expressed no confidence in the three-member
bench that made the decision. He said that it is also possible that the
Election Commission also takes a stand regarding this decision that in their
view this decision is four, three, so the court should give a clear direction
in this regard.
