- Directs Finance Ministry to draft summary to be tabled in cabinet’s meeting today
- Govt mulls tabling judicial reforms bill in joint session after president returned it
ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet on Sunday directed the Ministry of Finance to prepare a summary for taking guidance from the Parliament on the matters related to recent verdict of Supreme Court and provision of funds to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa elections.
The federal cabinet took the decision in its meeting held with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the chair here on the weekly holiday (Sunday) to deal with the “current political and constitutional crises” in the country.
وزیراعظم شہبازشریف کی زیرصدارت وفاقی کابینہ کا اجلاس
وزیراعظم شہبازشریف کی صدارت میں وفاقی کابینہ کا اجلاس اتوار کو وزیراعظم ہاﺅس میں منعقد ہوا جو دوگھنٹے تک جاری رہا pic.twitter.com/u5M3TxvAoL
— PMLN (@pmln_org) April 9, 2023
The cabinet members also held legal consultations and discussed the coalition government’s strategy in view of the Supreme Court’s April 4 verdict ordering elections in Punjab on May 14.
The cabinet also deliberated on tabling the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill, 2023 – which aims to curtail the powers of the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take suo moto notice and constitute benches on his own – in the joint session of Parliament for approval as President Dr Arif Alvi has returned it for reconsideration without signing it.
The two-hour-long meeting of the federal cabinet considered the detailed decisions of four judges and the court order issued with the majority of “four to three.”
They also held a detailed consultation on the resolution passed by the National Assembly on April 6, 2023.
It is to be recalled that the Supreme Court last week directed the federal government to provide funds to the tune of Rs21 billion to the ECP by April 10, directing the electoral body to present a report on the issue by April 11 to the court.
The verdict also said that the Supreme Court will issue instructions to the authorities concerned in case the funds are not provided.
Despite the court’s order, apparently instead of issuing funds, the federal cabinet opted for debating the matter in Parliament before approval and release funds for the provincial elections.
Minister for Law Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar briefed the meeting about different constitutional and legal matters and responded to the questions of the cabinet members.
After closely reviewing all aspects and detailed consultation, the federal cabinet unanimously directed the Ministry of Finance to prepare a summary according to the procedure and rules and in consultation with the Ministry of Law to take guidance from the Parliament on judicial matters.
The summary will be presented in the next meeting of the cabinet, the prime minister has summoned on Monday (today) at 10am at the Parliament House in Islamabad.
Moreover, the federal cabinet also approved the decisions taken by the National Security Committee (NSC) in its meeting on Friday.
The high-level huddle had decided to launch a comprehensive operation against terrorists, as the country’s civil and military leadership virtually issued a charge-sheet against the previous government and the establishment for allowing the banned TTP to regroup.
The federal cabinet meeting took place as the coalition government faces off with the judiciary following the Supreme Court’s ruling that directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hold elections in Punjab on May 14.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has claimed that the PDM coalition government called the NSC meeting in an attempt to use national security as a pretext for the postponement of elections.
He said that the government brought in an “unconstitutional bill” on the apex court, and a National Assembly resolution against the judiciary.
Earlier, the National Assembly had passed a resolution declaring that parliament rejected the SC verdict regarding the election in Punjab.
The lawmakers, in the resolution, had also barred the prime minister and the federal cabinet from implementing the decision while urging the top court to form a full court to review the “rewriting” of the Constitution under Article 63-A.
