LAHORE: Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) Malik Ahmad Khan on Sunday called for holding election to National and provincial assemblies at the same time to ease political situation in the country.
Addressing a press conference here at Governor’s House, he explained that under Article 81 to 84 of the Constitution, parliament would have to vote for all such grants/ expenditures, which could not be approved in the budget, and it was literally surprising for him when the honorable bench interpreted that it should be taken as ‘ex post facto’, and for him, it was tantamount to dictating the Parliament.
Holding of election within 90 days is a fact. Perhaps the makers of the Constitution did not envisage a situation under a political expediency as to how to hold elections in some provinces where assemblies were dissolved three months before their completion of constitutional term, while the federal and rest of the provincial assemblies were intact.
Right now, electing new governments in two provinces, especially in Punjab, the biggest province, would mean creating monopoly of the ruling party of Punjab to easily form governments in Centre and other provinces later on, and it was nothing but a sheer conspiracy against people’s right to vote, he added.
Malik said that Parliament was a supreme institution and legislation was only its mandate, asserting that parliament was performing within the ambit of the Constitution, and no one could restrain it from performing its constitutional responsibilities.
The SAPM said that as per Article 3, under Article 209 of the Code of Conduct for Judge 2009, a judge must keep his conduct in all things official and private, and free from impropriety. According to Article 4, a judge must decline resolutely to act in case involving his own interest, including those of persons whom he regards and treats as his near relatives and close friends.
To a question, he expressed grave concern over leaked audio of Rafia Tariq. He stressed the need for taking effective measures to cope with the elements/ hackers, who were accessing the sensitive calls of judges, political leaders, generals and bureaucrats, and leaking those audios.
To another question, Malik said that the PML-N was a public party and never shied away from elections, and it had also been elected to the assemblies through elections several times. He reiterated that general election would be held on the same date and under the respective interim governments.
