Islamabad: Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Monday urged the federal government and the opposition to resume dialogue to restore peace in the country and adjourned for a week the hearing on the Election Commission’s petition regarding the deadlock over holding elections in Punjab province. Did it Earlier, the Supreme Court had directed the Election Commission to hold elections in the politically important province on May 14. A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial heard the matter on Monday as the May 14 deadline for holding the elections expired on Sunday.
The Chief Justice said that the Election Commission says that if resources are provided to it, it will conduct elections. Justice Bandyal said he had asked the government and the opposition to seek a higher moral standard. According to the news, the hearing of the case has been adjourned till next week. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawyer Ali Zafar said that one week is too much. However, the Chief Justice said that the court has more important matters listed for tomorrow.
According to Justice Bandyal, if the court had known that it was time for elections, it would have acted sooner. He said that the way political forces are working, it is not right. You have to create the high moral ground, he said. Bandyal said that holding elections in 90 days is the main issue. The federal government and the PTI led by former prime minister Imran Khan are at loggerheads over holding elections in Punjab province. Although the coalition government and Khan’s party agreed earlier this month to hold general elections across the country on the same day, differences persisted over the date of the elections.
In its April 4 order, the court asked the cash-strapped federal government to provide Rs 21 billion by April 10 for holding elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and to provide security personnel as needed to maintain peace on polling day. But the government did not comply with either of the orders citing financial and security reasons. Instead, the government adopted a delaying strategy and took the matter to Parliament, which refused to support a bill seeking funding for elections.
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