PTI asks SC to appoint administrators in Punjab, KP

ISLAMABAD: Opening yet another front, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf on Sunday wrote to President Dr Arif Alvi to refer the issue of expiring terms of the caretaker governments to the Supreme Court of Pakistan, which in its advisory jurisdiction should address this blatant unconstitutionality and appoint administrators.

According to the letter, bearing the signature of PTI Senior Vice-President Fawad Chaudhry, President Alvi’s attention was drawn towards the “breach of mandatory constitutional commands by the federal government and Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP)”.

Speaking at a news conference here, Fawad said the PTI would also move the Supreme Court in relation to this matter and stress upon the appointment of administrators till the elections are held. “I have written to the president and appealed to him to intervene on two issues; one case is that of the ECP and extension of caretaker governments. The caretaker governments failed to conduct their basic work of holding elections in two provinces in 90 days, so the president should seek a report from the chief election commissioner on this,” he said.

Fawad added that the second point was that the caretaker governments were appointed for 90 days, and the term of the caretaker government of Punjab would end on April 22. After that the Constitution is silent on who will rule the province. The term of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa caretaker government will end a week after that.

Therefore, he emphasised, the reference should be sent to the Supreme Court, because according to the decision that has come now, only the Supreme Court can proceed with the election. The automatic extension of election is not in the Constitution, so the Supreme Court should send the caretaker governments home and appoint administrators to handle matters after April 22 and regulate the election process.

He said that if the president sends the reference, then it is fine, otherwise “we are going to the Supreme Court where we will request that Punjab be handed over to the administrator from April 23, the caretaker government should be sent home because it will become unconstitutional after its term”.

“…To ensure the fair and transparent elections under Article 224 of the Constitution, the caretaker government (that can fairly be considered an extension of Election Commission) for the limited time period of 90 days have been introduced… After the dissolution of the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial assemblies, the caretaker setups were established in both provinces. However, due to the unconstitutional and illegal actions of the ECP and the PDM government, the mandatory time period for holding the elections within the stipulated time lapsed and the Supreme Court was constrained to fix the time period for holding elections by using its constitutional jurisdiction,” the PTI leader wrote in the letter.

Fawad continued, “The incumbent caretakers with the tacit approval of the ECP, in violation of all mandatory laws and standards of propriety, have been permitted to embark upon the uncharted territories and it indulged in taking major policy decisions, including posting and transfers of the officials to affect the transparency and fairness of the elections.”

The interim setups in both the provinces, he pointed out, have completed their constitutional time period and the Constitution does not provide for continuation/ extension of the period fixed for the interim setups. Under these circumstances, the interim setups cannot be termed lawful and they must be considered “usurpers” imposed by the ECP and liable to be removed forthwith. “In this eventuality, it is respectfully requested to kindly refer the matter to the Hon’ble Supreme Court of Pakistan in advisory jurisdiction to address this blatant unconstitutionality,” he wrote to the president.

In the news conference, he said that the recent resolutions adopted by the National Assembly have no legal binding and status, adding that the decision of the Supreme Court was legally enforceable. “Lawyers, people and political leadership stand with the decisions of the Supreme Court and those decisions will be implemented.”

He said, “We are looking forward to the State Bank transferring money to ECP tomorrow (Monday). We hope that the SBP governor will do so as promised and elections will be held in Punjab as per the schedule.

“If the decision of the Supreme Court is not implemented, then not only the Supreme Court but the judiciary as an institution will become inactive. We are seeing that an attempt is being made to make the judiciary irrelevant through an organised campaign,” he charged.

Fawad contended that the Islamabad High Court ordered that local bodies elections should be held in Islamabad, but that was not implemented.

Coming down hard on the ruling coalition government, he noted that the PTI leaders are being picked up systematically, Ali Zaidi, and Ali Amin Gandapur have been arrested. He claimed that 3,100 people have been arrested in two weeks, and added the fundamental rights must be protected by the Chief Justice of Pakistan, as this shameless government is blatantly violating the Constitution.

“The nation is looking towards the chief justice at this time, your bold decisions will write the future of Pakistan. If you take bold decisions, the nation will stand with you and history will also be changed,” he maintained.

The PTI leader said that JUIF chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman had revealed on Saturday that during his sit-in, General (retd) Bajwa and Lt General (retd) Faiz Hameed promised him to overthrow Imran Khan. “I think this needs to be investigated, a formal commission should be formed on it and it should be known who was involved in it, who assured them,” he said.

He said that the governor of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir said that the Pulwama incident happened due to the wrong policies of the Ministry of Home Affairs of India and PM Narendra Modi. Moreover, Ajit Doval said that its blame would be shifted to Pakistan. Fawad expressed his surprise as to why the rulers in Pakistan had been silent after this disclosure.

On the other hand, criticising the PTI leaders, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) leader Talal Chaudhry said that the media should not broadcast the lies and false claims of PTI leaders on news channels, rather they should be aired on Cartoon Network or entertainment channels.

Talal went on to make personal attacks on PTI leaders Fawad Chaudhary and Hammad Azhar and accused them of lying to the public. The PMLN leader also targeted PTI’s economic policies and their inability to make timely decisions on seeking financial assistance from the IMF. He accused the PTI of violating the IMF deal while in government.

Moreover, Talal blamed the PTI for India’s unilateral decision to revoke the special status of Kashmir. He claimed that those responsible for the martyrdom of thousands of Kashmiris were now trying to present themselves as the saviours of Kashmir. He also criticised the PTI for accepting foreign funding from countries like India, Israel, and America. He accused them of hypocrisy and urged them to ask their “American uncles” to stop the killing of Muslims by Indian leaders like Modi and Adityanath.