Fazl sees judicial martial law in country

ISLAMABAD/ LAHORE: Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman Saturday claimed a judicial martial law had been imposed in the country and chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) had usurped the powers of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) as well as parliament and the government.

Addressing a press conference here, Fazl said the CJP had even announced the Punjab election schedule, which was the responsibility of the ECP.

Also, he added, the CJP interfered with the appointment of the Registrar Supreme Court, which was the authority of the government. He said only the parliament was authorised to do legislation. Maulana Fazl, who is also the chief of his own faction of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUIF), said the CJP had formed a bench even before the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill, 2023 had been enacted. He said constitutionally, powers were divided between all institutions, and no institution should interfere in the jurisdiction of another.

To a question, the PDM chief ruled out the possibility of talks with the former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, saying that he was an “unwanted element” in politics.

The PDM chief also raised concerns about the establishment’s alleged involvement in rigging during the 2018 elections, questioning whether the current establishment would hold responsible the establishment of that time which, according to him, was involved in “illegal and cruel” rigging.

He emphasised the need for addressing the current economic situation and called for the government to take necessary steps to alleviate the burden on the people.

The Maulana claimed that former army chief General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa’s representative, ISI chief General (retd) Faiz Hameed, former Punjab CM Pervaiz Elahi, and others had negotiated with his team when his party, JUIF, was holding the Azadi March during the PTI government’s tenure. He said it was decided in those negotiations that assemblies would be dissolved and elections would be held, but after the sit-in ended, they went back on their word and said that no such thing was decided.

In response to a question about talks suggested by Asif Zardari, Fazlur Rehman said the Pakistan Peoples Party had its own political philosophy. “We had said that we should resign from assemblies and go for new elections, but the PPP did not agree to that.”

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told a ceremony in Lahore on Saturday that various public welfare projects were initiated in Lahore and other parts of Punjab during Nawaz Sharif’s tenure as the prime minister. Some of them were the Greater Iqbal Park, Metro Bus Service, cricket ground and a number of power projects to overcome the 20-hour-long load-shedding, which was ended completely in the year 2018.

However, he alleged, the journey of development was stopped through “a fraud and fake election” in 2018. Results were changed and Imran Khan was brought to power through rigging, he claimed.

With such moves, the development process was hindered and large scale corruption was witnessed in the Punjab province during the PTI government’s tenure, the premier said. “The PMLN government had strived to eliminate the curse [of corruption] during its terms,” he added.

He reminded the people that during his tenure as the Punjab chief minister, The Mall and Gulberg roads were washed on a daily basis, but these roads were left in a dilapidated condition by the former rulers. PM Shehbaz Sharif also criticised former chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar for stopping different development projects in the province, including the issue of establishment of 56 companies. He said that during the court proceedings, not a single penny of corruption was proved.

The Orange Line train project was a gift of China for the people of Lahore, he said, adding after lengthy proceedings of 11 months in a case filed by the PTI, the high court gave a clean chit to the project.

But the PTI took the issue to the Supreme Court, where the former chief justice delayed the decision for months, with clear intentions to cause harm to the PMLN and public uplift schemes.

He also accused ex-chief justice Saqib Nisar of causing a loss to the PKLI project and questioned what he was doing in the constituency of Sheikh Rashid. Shehbaz Sharif said the development situation in Punjab would have been quite better had ex-CJP Saqib Nisar not stopped the PMLN govt’s projects. Separately, PM Shehbaz Sharif Saturday discussed political, economic and judicial crisis in the country with his party leadership here. He spent a busy day in the provincial metropolis and held various meetings, including one with the legal team of PMLN as well as the representatives of the allied parties.

Party sources said the PM discussed political and legal issues with Federal Law Minister Nazir Tarar, former law minister Zahid Hamid and others. Advocate Mustafa Ramday, Prime Minister’s Special Assistants Ataullah Tarar, Malik Ahmed Khan and Ahad Cheema were also present.

The PM also met a delegation of Jamaat-e-Islami, led by its Ameer Sirajul Haq and discussed with them the ongoing political situation. Federal ministers Ayaz Sadiq and Khawaja Saad Rafique were also present.

In a relevant development, Federal Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazir Tarar said on Saturday that the coalition government was proud of passing the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023 on the demand of the legal fraternity and bar councils. He said that legislation was the right of the parliament, which would not give the right to legislate to any other institution or any authority.

Addressing a ceremony of the Punjab Bar Council in Lahore, he said the conspiracy to divide the lawyers community would not succeed. He said the government was committed to resolving the issues of lawyers and it had taken various steps for the welfare of lawyers.