By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly has declined a motion on Monday to allocate a supplementary sum of Rs21 billion for elections in the politically crucial Punjab province in defiance of a directive issued by the country’s highest court, adding fuel to the already tense relationship between the government and the judiciary.
Minister for Law and Justice, Azam Nazeer Tarar, presented the motion in the lower house to cover the expenses for elections, after the matter was referred to Parliament by the Cabinet.
“In such economic circumstances, if elections are held again and again for the sake of one man’s ego, it is not in the best interest of the country,” said Minister Tarar.
Minister Tarar said the government had presented a bill in Parliament to treat the funds required as a “charged expenditure” on the Supreme Court’s instruction. “But this house after thorough deliberations, rejected the bill.”
Last week, the Supreme Court ordered the central bank to release funds from the Federal Consolidated Fund for snap provincial elections, following Parliament’s refusal to provide the necessary funding.
The three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, directed the State Bank of Pakistan to disburse funds to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) by April 17 for the purposes of holding general elections in Punjab and KP assemblies.
The court order stated that “The sum of Rs21bn shall be and become available to and with the election commission in immediately releasable and utilisable funds for the purposes of holding the general elections to the Punjab and KP assemblies.”
The government and judiciary have been at odds over cases related to political-wrangling, and parliament last week introduced a draft law to clip the chief justice’s powers.
Last week also the parliament had rejected a money bill on election funding.
The current crisis arose due to the delay in elections for the provincial assemblies of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which were dissolved by former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Tahreek-e-Insaf party in January before the expiry of their mandated five-year terms to force early nationwide elections.
The top court ordered elections in Punjab province to be held on May 14, after the election watchdog delayed polls to October 8 due to security and funding reasons, which the apex court deemed unconstitutional.
The Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led coalition government has been seeking to postpone the polls with the argument that elections should be held after August 2023 when the current House term ends.
The government has also accused the three judges who delivered the verdict of being biased against the ruling coalition, leading to a constitutional crisis in a country already facing economic difficulties.
Junior Finance Minister, Aisha Ghaus Pasha, told reporters that neither the central bank nor the finance minister had the authority to release funds from the Federal Consolidated Fund.
“The allocation process required approval from Parliament,” she added.
Pasha said that the central bank could only allocate the money but could not disburse it until the finance ministry provided proper instructions.
“The Finance Division can only act on the orders of the federal cabinet. Now, it is the federal cabinet’s will to take the matter to the Parliament … if the Parliament says yes, we will disburse the funds today.”
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