ISLAMABAD: Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Wednesday said that it is a prerogative of the Supreme Court to give its verdict on the issue of elections to Punjab and KP assemblies, but the parliament, too, had given its verdict.
“The parliament has given its verdict on the matter of elections in Punjab”, Kh Asif said during an interview with a private TV programme.
Currently both the executive and the judiciary have reached an impasse due to the government’s dillydallying in carrying out the Supreme Court’s verdict whereby it has ordered elections to the Punjab Assembly on May 14.
“Parliament has given its verdict. There is no ambiguity about it,” he said when asked about the possibility of the Supreme Court (SC) upholding its decision to hold elections in Punjab in May.
Elections to the Punjab Assembly, as well as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, have been due since January when both houses were dissolved.
The defence minister said parliament was the “mother of the Constitution” and a “reflection of the public’s aspirations”, and hence, it “predominates” over other constitutional institutions.
On April 4, the SC had ruled that polls in Punjab should be held on May 14, after the Election Commission of Pakistan decided to defer them to October 8. The court observed that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was bound by the law and Constitution to hold elections within 90 days of the dissolution of an assembly and directed the government to release Rs21 billion to the ECP by April 10 for holding polls in Punjab and KP.
However, the government referred the matter to Parliament which defied the court’s orders and refused to issue the funds. The court then directed the State Bank of Pakistan to release the funds, but the central bank, despite having allocated the amount to the ECP, has not been able to release the funds as it needs the federal cabinet’s approval.
Meanwhile, the federal cabinet — which requires the National Assembly’s (NA) approval for the release of the said funds — has managed through the lower house of parliament 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.
