NA speaker writes letter to CJP raising MNAs concerns at judgements

National Assembly Raja Pervaiz Ashraf has written a letter to the top court judge showing reservations raised by the parliamentarians about a few judgements, 24NewsHD TV channel reported on Wednesday.

The House has raised concerns at the recent decisions to interfere with the constitutional powers of the parliament, the speaker wrote in the letter as the lawmakers called for initiating contempt of parliament proceedings against those who do not follow the resolution of the House.

PML-N lawmaker Barjees Tahir raised a demand for initiating contempt of proceedings during his speech on the floor of the National Assembly.

“Shall I write a letter to the Supreme Court to convey the sentiments of the members,” the speaker asked Bajees as the latter insisted upon action over contempt of parliament.

 “For God's sake, stop contempt of parliament! Write a letter to Judiciary asking them to stay within limits,” Barjees insisted. The speaker then made the announcement.

The coalition government reaffirmed its stance on holding elections across the country on the same day and bringing in judicial reforms. The ruling alliance lawmakers laid stress on going by ground realities in the wake of the top court’s April 4 verdict to hold the election on May 14.

The law minister said in his address that the house has made it clear that the four-judge verdict is unacceptable  The parliament has already passed resolutions for not providing funds to the Election Commission of Pakistan for the polls, Azam Tarar said, adding that the house had directed the federal government not to follow the ‘minority decision’.

The law minister lashed out at former prime minister Imran Khan over the dissolution of the KP and Punjab Assembly election.

Imran Khan has been on a campaign to hold snap polls since his ouster from the prime minister's house in April last through a no-confidence motion.

He dissolved the provincial assembly of KP and Punjab after his street shows failed to bear fruit, creating a political mess.

The court took sou moto notice and issued directives to hold the polls on May 14. The election commission made a request to the top court bench to withdraw the verdict and put off the polls till October 8.

The commission cited poor law and order and financial issues as reasons for putting off the polls. The defence ministery too made the request for withdrawal of the top court’s decision but to no avail.

The court last week made the government and the opposition sit and hold talks on the matter and informed it about the progress. However, the government clarifided that it has always been open for talks but the opposition never paid heed to it.

It also made it clear that talks at gunpoint would never be held and as it was against democracy and democratic norms. 

"Releasing funds from the Federal Consolidated Fund is the parliament's prerogative," the law minister said in today’s address.

"When the matter was taken up before the cabinet, the house had already issued its decision," the law minister said, stressing that it is the parliament's prerogative on the issuance of funds.

The minister said a person dissolved the assemblies to satisfy his "ego".

He added that given the current circumstances, the parliament has the power to either ratify or review its earlier decisions.

The finance minister said in his speech that since the country has been striving hard to cope with the economic challenge, politicking should be shunned for the national cause.

He questioned if the election will be held after the funds’ release. He stressed the need for shunning petty issues and join hands for economic better. The country has the capacity to cope with the challenge but time is being wasted on the issues created for vested interest.

During a meeting with the allies, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that a parliamentary committee will deliberate upon the terms of talks between the ruling alliance and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on the matter of holding elections across the country on the same day.

He said the door for negotiations should not be closed. "We can decide what the format of the talks will be. The parliamentary committee can create room for this."

The Supreme Court is all set to resume hearing on the matter related to the election tomorrow.

In his address today, the premier said the parliament had dealt with challenges in the past and taken constitutional and legal steps regarding the Supreme Court.

The situation was still challenging, he continued. Referring to the verdict of a three-member Supreme Court bench that ordered polls to the Punjab Assembly on May 14, he said the parliament did not accept the bench.

"The parliament did not accept that bench's decision. The unanimous decision was that we accept the four-three verdict," PM Shehbaz said, referring to the controversies regarding the bench's members.

However, the apex court wanted to continue hearing the elections case with the three-member bench, which has asked for details regarding election funds tomorrow, he noted.

"The parliament has dealt with Supreme Court verdicts in the past. It would prefer that the matter [of holding talks with the opposition on elections] also be brought to the house.

"The parliament would want its decisions to be respected."

The coalition partners had reached a consensus on same-day elections, he shared. "The decision has to be taken by the parliament, not you or me," he told the allies.

 The PM said the Supreme Court did "not have the power to act as an arbitrator" between the government and the PTI.

"The Supreme Court's job is not to act as a panchayat but to announce verdicts in accordance with the law and the Constitution."

The National Assembly's term would come to an end on August 13, he said, adding that general elections could then be held in October or November.

Referring to former prime minister Imran Khan's claims, PM Shehbaz said the country was already facing problems before the PTI Chairman created more by saying he was ousted from power through a conspiracy by the United States.

"Our foreign relations were greatly damaged. The PTI instructed its provincial finance ministers to reject an agreement with the IMF (International Monetary Fund). All kinds of tactics were used to create anarchy. Even the armed forces were not spared."