Earlier this month, a verdict by a two-bench Supreme Court bench limited the promulgation of ordinances solely to emergency situations, if neither House of Parliament is in session or a subject does not fall within the Federal Legislative List. The PTI government has issued no less that 54 ordinances during its tenure and the latest one enables the leadership of an elected government to campaign for candidates in their respective constituencies prior to an election, which clearly bypasses the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) rules restricting this practice. Despite the ECP’s multiple warnings, Prime Minister Imran Khan attended public meetings in Swat and Malakand, for which he has been fined Rs50,000. That the IHC, upon being approached by the government to suspend ECP’s notices, rejected the plea, harshly reprimanding the former for relying on ordinances to “get things done”, just goes to show how independent constitutionally established federal bodies are casually disregarded and their laws violated. The PTI does not seem to regard Parliament as the fount of legislation, and instead of putting in the hard work of not just piloting legislation through the Houses, but also making sufficient compromises with the opposition to ensure its ability to pass required legislation, it prefers to issue ordinances
The PTI and the ECP have been at loggerheads for quite some time now and since the former’s coming to power, and have had multiple run-ins whereby federal minsters have made belligerent statements against the institution, only to apologize later for their remarks. This animosity is understandable when one considers the ongoing foreign funding case and Faisal Vawda’s disqualification. In both instances, the PTI has delayed proceedings and bought time using the executive and administrative powers it holds. Mr Vawda was about to be unseated for having made a false declaration at the time of election to the National Assembly and thought he could save himself if he went up to the Senate on a true declaration. However, the ECP also unseated him from the Senate because of the original false declaration.
The PTI must realise two things. First, the ECP is not acting arbitrarily, but merely according to the laws it must administer. The PTI must also remember that this is precisely why it must lose, because it is acting illegally, and the ECP is winning the legAAal battles.
