Ruling alliance still smarting over SC verdict

ISLAMABAD: The coalition government is on a warpath with the Supreme Court after a three-judge bench unanimously declared as unconstitutional the Election Commission’s order to delay the elections in Punjab.

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif Wednesday termed the apex court proceedings horrible and said the National Assembly would pass a resolution rejecting the verdict on Thursday (today).

“What happened in the SC proceedings, the history never witnessed such horrible scenes; it has been decided that the National Assembly will pass a resolution to reject the decision,” Shehbaz said while addressing a consultative meeting of the senior leadership of government allies.

Those who attended the meeting included JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman, Dr Farooq Sattar, Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, Mian Iftikhar Hussain of ANP, top leadership of other coalition partners including PMLN Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan and other cabinet members.

The meeting discussed different options to effectively respond to the verdict, while Maryam Nawaz took a stricter stance saying the government should go beyond merely rejecting the decision.

The prime minister said the National Assembly had been discussing as to what game was played with the Constitution and democracy, it had passed a resolution before the verdict and would pass another resolution on Thursday (today).

He said the Supreme Court did not talk about the verdict dismissing the petition by a four to three majority, a shakeup of benches and also did not pay heed to requests for the constitution of a full court bench.

He said the political parties also pleaded on different occasions to become party to the case but their requests were also rejected, while a judge who previously regretted being a part of the bench joined the hearing.

He said according to the decision, the government had to make funds available for elections by April 10 and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had to apprise the court on April 11 and a final report was to be submitted to the chief election commissioner regarding the security measures by April 17.

“We are also holding discussions on this issue,” he said.

He said the federal cabinet discussed the sensitive issue in detail and later it was also taken up in the National Assembly where the law minister and Khawaja Saad Rafique also spoke openly.

He said the meeting of the government allies was called for consultation on the matter which pertained to making a mockery of the Constitution and law.

Shehbaz said the allied parties also held a consultative meeting with the lawyers’ community.

“We are here to take concrete decisions with collective wisdom,” he said.

PML-N Quaid Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari participated in the meeting through a video link. Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz insisted that a reference should be filed against the judges who were part of the three-member bench. The participants of the meeting were of the view that the parliament should assert its supremacy and there should be no apologetic approach while adopting a tough stance.

“There can be no compromise on the supremacy of Parliament and Constitution,” they maintained.

Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Energy Khurram Dastagair Khan Wednesday said the coalition government will challenge the basis of the apex court verdict that set May 14 as the election date.

Talking to the Capital Talk host, he said according to them, it was a 4-3 decision but they said it was a 3-2 decision. He said it was the Election Commission’s mandate to announce the election schedule but the apex court acted above its constitutional authority by fixing the election date.

“It was the same April 9 case that we have demanded. There were thirteen judges out of which eleven said the suo motu jurisdiction applied. We still demand the same. We don’t want the decision in our favour but request that this case should be taken up by a full court. If eleven of the thirteen judges declare that the suo motu jurisdiction applies, then we will accept it,” said the PMLN leader.

Dastagir said after Allah Almighty’s sovereignty rested with the people. He said the Constitution not only dictated elections in 90 days but also emphasized equal treatment.

“The Parliament can’t block the Supreme Court verdict but we do have our reservations about its verdict. We suggest that the chief justice should convene the full court and decide whether it was a 3-2 or 4-3 decision so that we may move ahead.”

In a related development, the ruling alliance is mulling over a three-pronged strategy to deal with the pressure and ‘aggression’ coming from the judiciary. The Parliament would be its “combat arm” in the ongoing fight.

The summit of the alliance has decided to bring a strong-worded resolution for endorsement of the position taken by the federal cabinet and government two days back.

Highly-placed sources told The News Wednesday evening that a reference for procedural misconduct against the three judges of the apex court was on the cards supposed to be put up in the Supreme Judicial Council (SC) where a reference based on serious allegations against a judge was already pending. Another piece of legislation for penalizing “Contempt of Parliament” would be discussed among other proposals when the ruling alliance chiefs will put their heads again today (Thursday) which would be their third summit in less than a week. The suggested law would be in line with the “Contempt of Court”, which provides imprisonment and a fine.

The punishment would be even harsher than what is prescribed in contempt of court matters. None whatsoever enjoying the high status would be immune from the proposed law. Yet another proposal under discussion would be the abolition of prevalent contempt of court laws.

Interestingly, in most civilized countries, the law against contempt of court doesn’t exist considering it against human dignity.

In contempt matters, ordinary law of the land is invoked in these countries, the sources reminded. They said Thursday’s meeting would give a final shape to the strategy of the alliance.

A joint communique would be issued after the huddle, the sources said.

The allies will fully endorse the verdict of three-four while discarding the three-two judgment in their resolution and the same would be reflected in the resolution to be adopted by the National Assembly again today.

The sources said that PML-N Quaid Nawaz Sharif, PDM President Maulana Fazlur Rehman and PPP top leader Asif Ali Zardari were on the same page, as they had developed a consensus on following a strong line of action on the subject.

The PTI that had set up teams last week for establishing contacts with other political parties for mustering their support were in fact constituted to woo the PPP leadership. Their mission turned out to be a non-starter, as some disgruntled “stalwarts” of the PPP were already in touch with the PTI but they lost their clout in the party and failed to impress the party for changing its position.

The resolution, being drafted by a committee of ministers belonging to the major component parties of the ruling alliance, would yet another time impress upon the chief justice to constitute a full court bench to look into the matter.

Federal Law and Justice Minister Senator Azam Nazir Tarar is the point man of the committee of ministers.