[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text dp_text_size=”size-4″]ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet has decided to bring the issue of providing funds to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for the holding of elections in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa to Parliament.
The decision was made after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif presided over a cabinet meeting on the weekly holiday (Sunday) to discuss the country’s “current political and constitutional crises.”
Last week, the Supreme Court directed the federal government to provide Rs21 billion in funds to the ECP by April 10, with the electoral body to present a report on the issue by April 11.
The verdict also stated that the Supreme Court will issue instructions to the relevant authorities if the funds are not provided.
Despite the court’s order, sources told The Express Tribune that the federal cabinet chose to debate the issue in Parliament before approving and issuing funds for provincial elections.
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The huddle also held legal consultations and discussed the coalition government’s strategy in light of the Supreme Court’s April 4 decision ordering Punjab elections on May 14.
The cabinet also discussed tabling the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill, 2023 – which seeks to limit the Chief Justice of Pakistan’s ability to take suo motu notice and form benches on his own – in the joint session of Parliament for approval, after President Dr Arif Alvi returned it for reconsideration without signing it.
In this regard, the prime minister has called for another federal cabinet meeting at 10 a.m. tomorrow (Monday) at Parliament House in Islamabad.
Furthermore, the federal cabinet approved the National Security Committee’s (NSC) decisions from its meeting on Friday.
The high-level meeting had decided to launch a comprehensive operation against terrorists, as the country’s civil and military leadership effectively charged the previous government and the establishment with allowing the banned TTP to regroup.
The federal cabinet meeting occurred as the coalition government battles the judiciary in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s ruling ordering the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hold elections in Punjab on May 14.
Imran Khan, Chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), has claimed that the PDM coalition government called the NSC meeting in an attempt to use national security as a pretext for postponing elections.
He claimed that the government introduced a “unconstitutional bill” against the Supreme Court, as well as a National Assembly resolution against the judiciary.
Previously, the National Assembly passed a resolution declaring that parliament rejected the Supreme Court’s decision on the Punjab election.
In the resolution, lawmakers also barred the prime minister and the federal cabinet from carrying out the decision, while urging the Supreme Court to convene a full court to review the “rewriting” of the Constitution under Article 63-A.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
