SC verdict jeopardised parliamentary supremacy: Fawad

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain Friday said that the federal cabinet had decided to go for the review of the Supreme Court judgment with reference to the National Assembly deputy speaker’s ruling and subsequent events. He said neither Prime Minister Imran Khan nor his government was going anywhere.

Talking to the media here after a meeting of the federal cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan, Fawad said the cabinet members once again expressed confidence in the leadership of Imran Khan, reiterating commitment that like the entire nation, it stands with Imran Khan.

About the SC decision given on Thursday night, he said that the supremacy of He said that the SC did not have the material which was before the Speaker for giving a ruling, then how can the court decide whether the Speaker used his mind or not. He added that if the court wanted to make a decision on the ruling, then it should have looked at all the material which was available to the Speaker or on the basis of which the Speaker reached the decision of rejecting the no-confidence motion and adjourned the sitting.

Fawad said, “Our legal team is holding consultations on the SC decision. The legal team is considering other legal options, including filing of an appeal against the decision. Along with this decision, the amazing decision of the Supreme Court is that those who are our defected members will be able to vote, even though the case has not been heard in the Supreme Court. It was not a matter of whether they could vote or not.”

In the present situation, he noted, the whole nation is concerned about the manner in which horse trading had been carried out. “We believe that after the decision of the Supreme Court, the principle of functioning within one’s jurisdiction has been affected, the principle of ‘separation of power’ has been severely violated in Pakistan. The sovereignty and supremacy of the parliament is no longer maintained, the sovereignty and supremacy has now shifted from the parliament to the Supreme Court, which means that the people of Pakistan are no longer the rulers of the country but a few judges,” he went on to charge.

He emphasised that “considering all these aspects, the Supreme Court should reconsider its decision and we will approach the court for review”.

He contended that considering the material available before the federal cabinet so far, it was clear that the no-confidence motion was brought under a global conspiracy against the prime minister. He said that after deliberations on the issue of the letter, the cabinet decided that the material, which is currently in the possession of the federal government should be placed before all the members of the Assembly without the ‘original cipher’.

“There is evidence that should be placed before the members of the Assembly, and even after that if any member wants to vote in no-confidence, then the people of Pakistan will decide who is standing on which side,” he added. Fawad said that when the East India Company had occupied India, India would never have been subjugated if locals like Mir Jaffar had not joined it. He cautioned that if the nation did not protect its independence today, then Pakistan would plunge into a great slavery and then we would have to start our struggle again from March 23, 1940. As a result of this slavery, an imported and selected government would be imposed on the nation, whose strings would be moved from somewhere else.

Likewise, the minister said that the federal cabinet expressed its serious concerns over the statement made by the Election Commission in the Supreme Court on Thursday in which the official said that it could not hold general election in the country before seven months. Fawad said that the question is if there was no no-confidence motion against the PM and the PM decided that we have to hold general elections in the country and the Constitution orders elections in 90 days after the decision, if elections are to be held, would the commission still say that we cannot hold elections?

He said the Chief Election Commissioner’s statement, especially after the decision was announced, raised a lot of questions. The cabinet expressed its serious concerns over the role of the Election Commission and especially the CEC. The forum, he noted, also expressed its concerns over the statement of the Election Commission in which it had said that it had not received any assistance from the federal government regarding the new constituencies.

Fawad said the statement should be considered as contradictory to the facts, as the federal government is ready to assist the ECP in every way to hold elections. “We have been asking the Election Commission for the last two years to prepare for the elections, especially on the issue of Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) and overseas Pakistanis’ voting while the Election Commission is now saying that you should leave the overseas votes, we cannot even arrange voting for the people in the country. Can a country run without a government for seven months? Can a caretaker government run the affairs of the country in these difficult economic conditions for seven or eight months? We need a strong and stable government immediately,” he said.

Fawad said whatever the political situation, we are ready to face it. Imran Khan is the current prime minister and he will remain the prime minister of Pakistan. “We are going nowhere. A conspiracy is being hatched to impose this person (Shehbaz Sharif) on the country whose only thought is slavery. He says we are beggars; an attempt is being made to impose such a person on the country. If so, will Imran Khan remain silent, not at all, we will resist him at all costs,” he stressed.