— Nawaz Sharif to chair PML-N top meeting to discuss SC verdict tomorrow
— PM, other leaders also set to come up with proposals to deal with new challenges
ISLAMABAD: In an apparent bid to respond to the recent judgement of larger Supreme Court bench on reserved seats to be allotted to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the federal government has decided to build pressure through the parliament and in this regard the prime minister is considering convening the Senate and National Assembly sessions to discuss Supreme Court’s decision regarding reserved seats for SIC (Sunni Ittehad Council).
Sources revealed that Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Azam Nazir Tarar has proposed the prime minister to convene a session of the parliament and to strongly respond to the Sc verdict.
The meeting will be chaired by PML-N President Nawaz Sharif while Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Chief Minister (CM) Punjab Maryam Nawaz, federal and provincial ministers and other bigwigs of the PML-N would also attend the meeting, the sources privy to the development said.
The sources added that the Nawaz Sharif-headed meeting will also engage in consultations on other key issues.
It is learnt that the parliamentarians belonging to the ruling PML-N have been instructed to stay in the capital while a final decision to summon the session likely to be taken on Monday in a meeting to be presided over by Nawaz Sharif.
According to sources, the government “wanted to devise a strategy before going for review appeal against the Supreme Court decision.”
The Supreme Court had on Friday annulled the decision of the Peshawar High Court and the order of the Election Commission (ECP) regarding reserved seats and ordered to give seats to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
It was also law minister Azam Nazeer Tarar who opened the first salvo at the apex court verdict.
Azam Nazeer Tarar on Friday said the Supreme Court’s (SC) judgement to give the reserved seats to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was tantamount to rewriting the Constitution.
Addressing the media after the SC announced its verdict on the reserved seats for women and minorities, Tarar said the matter had gone beyond interpretation.
“A lot of questions have been raised due to this verdict. Those who read and understand the law will continue commenting on today’s decision, as a situation has been developed where there is no clarity,” Tarar said.
“Article 51 and Article 106 of the constitution have been rewritten instead of being interpreted. The 80 winning members neither appeared before the Election Commission or Peshawar High Court, nor the Supreme Court, nor did they submit an affidavit stating that they belong to PTI,” the law minister added.
Tarar was of the view that the SC granted relief to the PTI through today’s verdict, which the party had not even sought.
“In today’s decision, the SC has exceeded its constitutional limits,” he claimed.
It merits mention that other senior PML-N ministers and lawmakers have already criticised the apex court verdict on reserved seats. A Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader has also announced it will challenge the Supreme Court’s ruling on PTI’s reserved seats.
During a press conference in Rawalpindi, PML-N leader Hanif Abbasi criticised the decision, stating that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf was not even a party in the case but was granted undue relief.
Abbasi questioned the constant reinterpretation of the Constitution, which he claimed favoured PTI. Abbasi revealed that independent members have been given 15 days to join a party, a period he argued is excessive.
He pointed out that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) only withdrew the party’s electoral symbol due to a failure to conduct intra-party elections, and not because it dissolved the party.
Abbasi also condemned the Supreme Court’s recognition of 39 PTI candidates for reserved seats, calling it an illegal move. He announced that PML-N, along with other political parties, would file a review petition against the decision.
Federal Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said that the Supreme Court rewrote the constitution in its decision, which is the right of the Parliament.
Speaking at a press conference in Sialkot, Federal Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said that legislation is the privilege of the Parliament, and all institutions have their responsibilities outlined in the constitution. The judiciary’s job is to interpret the constitution.
Criticizing the Supreme Court’s decision, he said that as politicians, they have made many mistakes. The Supreme Court, in its decision on reserved seats, has rewritten the constitution. This decision not only reached the doorstep but also provided relief.
Khawaja Asif stated that it was not PTI but the Sunni Ittehad Council that had come to the court. Relief was given to those who were not even the petitioners. Those who had submitted affidavits to the Election Commission on behalf of the Sunni Ittehad Council cannot go back on them. When those taking multiple oaths reach the assembly, what will be the worth of the assembly? PTI lost its electoral symbol for not holding intra-party elections.
The Defense Minister said that the Parliament and the Election Commission are all executive institutions. The higher judiciary is not making decisions considering political implications. A big Pandora’s box has been opened due to the situation. This is not good for the national future. We still have 209 members in Parliament. The judiciary’s interference in politics has been going on for many years.
He further stated that a decision on the review appeal against the Supreme Court’s verdict will be made in Parliament on Monday. Many constitutional provisions have been violated in the decision. The reaction to the decision will be given after consultation with allies.
Anarchy has already spread in society, and the economic conditions have deteriorated to a point where they cannot be further worsened.
PML-N workers continue protest against SC’s verdict in reserved seats case
Traffic came to a complete halt on the National Highway on Sunday after hundreds of PML-N workers held a sit-in at the Sindh-Punjab border city of Daharki, Sindh, to register their protest against the Supreme Court’s (SC) decision to award reserved seats to the PTI.
A long queue of vehicles could be seen on the highway as the PML-N workers, led by Hafiz Muhammad Rafiq, the party’s Ghotki district president, shouted slogans against the PTI.
Speaking on the occasion, Hafiz Muhammad Rafiq said that since the SC’s decision was against the masses; the court was therefore requested to declare it null and void.
He went on to say that Pakistani courts were at the 139th position on the international list. “Decisions like these are responsible for the country’s courts’ poor ranking.”
A day ago, a handful of people held a protest demonstration on the Islamabad Expressway and Choor Chowk after the Supreme Court declared Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) eligible for reserved seats.
The demonstration resulted in a traffic jam along the expressway as commuters faced inconvenience. While some motorists remained in their cars, others sought alternate routes. A similar protest was also reported from Murree.
