Punjab CM election case: Coalition partners again demand formation of full court

ISLAMABAD: PML-N  Vice President Maryam Nawaz on Monday questioned the Supreme Court of Pakistan and asked why it did not summon former National Assembly deputy speaker Qasim Suri for violating the Constitution. 

Speaking during a press conference in Islamabad flanked by several leaders of the coalition government and the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), including Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and JUI-F chief Maulana Fazl ur Rehman, Maryam criticised the country's justice system and said that whenever a petition is filed in a court of law, people already know which bench will be formed to hear that. 

At the beginning of the press briefing, which was organised ahead of the Supreme Court session to decide on the ruling of the Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Dost Mazari, Maryam said that a lot of people discouraged her from holding a press briefing right now as the government's appeal regarding the formation of a full bench to hear Mazari's case was under review at the top court.

On July 22, the much-awaited election for the chief minister of Punjab took a dramatic turn after PML-N's candidate Hamza Shahbaz successfully retained the province's top post, defeating Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervez Elahi with three votes. Following the counting of votes,  Mazari, citing Article 63(A) of the Constitution, rejected 10 votes cast by PML-Q members. As a result, Hamza received 179 votes, while Elahi managed to bag 176 votes.

As a result, the PTI approached the SC against Mazari's decision, terming it "unconstitutional and illegal." The court, in turn, asked Mazari to issue a detailed response as to why he rejected the 10 votes of PML-Q members. A decision regarding the ruling will be made by the court today after considering Mazari's response. 

The PML-N president, while criticising the country's judiciary, said that if the history of court decisions in Pakistan is reviewed, it would be a shocking revelation, adding that whenever institutions are subjected to insults, it is done from within and not by outside forces. 

"One flawed ruling could blow up an entire case," she said. "If the right decisions are  made, then criticism would hold no value."

Recalling past events, she said that as soon as Hamza Shahbaz was elected as the chief minister of Punjab, the PTI immediately approached the apex court.

"PTI members jumped the walls of the Supreme Court at nighttime and as a result, the doors of the court had to be opened at odd hours. The registrar rushed to the court, while a petition was not even prepared," she said.

Questioning the impartiality of the justice system, she said that whenever a petition is filed in a court of law, people already know which bench will be formed to hear that.

"If decisions are to be made in a one-sided manner, then there is no need to hold a court hearing at all. The [court should] hand over Punjab to Imran Khan without any legal proceedings," she said. 

Moving on, the PML-N leader said that the court's interpretation of the constitution changes when there is a change in the party head — the decisions are different for Imran Khan and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif.

Maryam said that if the party's head is Nawaz, he will be convicted on a "trivial issue" such as the residence permit (iqama) — referring to the Panama Papers case.

Maryam said that during former prime minister Khan's tenure, the country witnessed a downfall in all sectors and the courts played "an important" role in that.

The PML-N leader asked which crime had Khan not committed; he was involved in inciting violence, attacking property, and in the attack on Parliament and the PTV.

"Did any court take suo motu notice against Khan? Are the suo motus only for the PML-N and its allies?" she asked.

Criticising the judges for the recent remarks during the "Azadi March" hearing, Maryam said that despite PTI blatantly violating the court's orders, the party was still given leverage.

"After he blatantly violated the orders, the judge said that maybe he didn't receive the order; they also said maybe they burnt the green belt to save themselves from tear gas."

Maryam said that the courts were opened at night for former federal minister Shireen Mazari, but she was kept in jail for five months and not given bail.

"The country's [situation] is not under control, the global community is not happy with us; this is all due to Khan and the court's decisions," Maryam added.

Justice not expected from current SC bench: Fazl

JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman expressed that he does not expect justice from the current bench — headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, and comprising Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar — and said that he fully backs all claims of Maryam.

"That's the reason we have been demanding a full bench to hear the case so that justice can be ensured," Fazl said, adding that the more consensus there is, the more we hope the decision will be on merit.

The JUI-F chief said that the institutions should introspect their roles and overcome their drawbacks as he stressed self-accountability.

You can't change Constitution due to Imran Khan's pressure: Bilawal

PPP chairperson Bilawal Bhutto, too, reiterated that the coalition government only has one demand: the formation of a full bench to hear the case related to the Punjab CM’s election.

“This cannot happen that three people decide the fate of this country. Three people cannot decide on whether this country will run on a democratic, elected or selective system,” he said.

He repeated: “It cannot be possible that three people change Pakistan’s 1973 Constitution with just the stroke of a pen”.

Bilawal said we want the country to run through a democratic process. He said that we can see that some people, who wanted to make this country a "one-unit" system", can't digest that Pakistan is moving closer to democratic norms and that the public is making its own decisions.