SC refuses to entertain petition for referendum on presidential form of govt

The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday refused to entertain a constitutional petition which sought direction for the prime minister to enable holding a referendum regarding the establishment of a presidential form of government in Pakistan.

The petition was filed by Tahir Aziz Khan, chairman of the political party Hum Awam Pakistan, under Article 184 (3) of the Constitution. One of the main objectives of the lesser-known political party is to establish a presidential form of government in the country.

The registrar's office, objected that the petitioner had not pointed out the question of public importance in this case.

“The petitioner did not approach any other forum available to him under the law for the same relief,” SC office further said. “Petitioner did not justify invoking of extraordinary jurisdiction of this court under Article 184 (3) of the Constitution”

Earlier, the petitioner sought direction from the apex court to the prime minister of Pakistan to hold a referendum, as provided under the Clause 6 of the Article 48 of the Constitution to determine whether the people of Pakistan, for their welfare and wellbeing, want a presidential form of government or not.

The petition states that it is apparent from the print, electronic and social media that an overwhelming majority of the people are fed up with the parliamentary form of government and want to adopt the presidential form of government.

It is stated that currently, Pakistan is the sixth most populous country in the world with an estimated population of 212 million people. According to the United Nations’ observations, this population is estimated to reach 403 million by 2050, the petition added.

Pakistan has also one of the world’s largest youth population, as 64 per cent of the Pakistanis are now under the age of 30. "Pakistan is ranked as 122nd out of 190 countries in the world in the opinion of the World Health Organisation’s performance report in terms of quality and accessibility of health care."

The petitioner also stated that this growing population will put catastrophic pressures on resources, leaving tens of millions of people jobless. This trend will further almost inevitably lead to further destabilisation of Pakistan’s already fragile political system.

As of March 2020, the petition states, the public debt of Pakistan was estimated at about Rs42.8 trillion or $256 billion, which is 98.2 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), while the external debt stood at around $112 billion. Pakistan owes $5.765 billion to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

No doubt, 25 per cent of Pakistan’s population lives below the poverty line. At present, the average human development index (HDI) and the GDP are the lowest as compared to other South Asian countries like India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan, says the petition.