PDM to launch campaign against SC decision

Alliance asks govt to file reference in SC for interpretation of Article 63-A by full court

PAKISTAN:

The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) declared on Thursday that the next general elections would be held on its scheduled time next year, and announced that the alliance would launch a public campaign against the Supreme Court decision on the Punjab chief minister’s election.

The PDM, which mostly comprises political parties in the ruling coalition, including the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), held its summit meeting days after the Supreme Court annulled the election of PML-N’s Hamza Shehbaz as the Punjab chief minister.

“The general elections will be held on time and the current government will complete its term,” PDM President Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who also heads his own faction of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F), told reporters after the summit meeting.

The meeting was chaired by Fazl and attended by the leaders of all the constituent parties. PML-N Supremo Nawaz Sharif and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif joined the meeting via video link.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court struck down Punjab Deputy Speaker Dost Mazari’s ruling on the election of chief minister, paving the way for Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, the candidate of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the PML-Quaid, to become the chief minister of Punjab,

The apex court ruling dethroned PML-N’s Hamza Shehbaz, who was declared winner by the deputy speaker last week, after he rejected 10 votes of the PML-Q in favour of Elahi, on the basis of PML-Q president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain’s letter, who had barred PML-Q lawmakers from voting for Elahi.

In the meeting, the PDM passed a resolution, saying that the Supreme Court ruling had created confusion, leading to a constitutional and political crisis in the country. The resolution said that political leadership as well as leading lawyers and law experts had expressed their reservation on the ruling.

In the unanimously-passed resolution, the PDM asked the federal government to send a presidential reference to the Supreme Court for the interpretation of Article 63-A of the Constitution through the full court.

“The recent Supreme Court judgment has created chaos and political turmoil,” Fazl told reporters. “A presidential reference, seeking interpretation of Article 63-A of the Constitution by the full court, will be filed in the Supreme Court,” he added.

The PDM chief said that the constitution clearly assigned powers to state institutions. “Nobody can interfere in other institution’s matters,” he continued. “The Supreme Court ruling has been interpreted as a deviation from the limits drawn by the Constitution,” he said.

During the meeting, according to sources, Fazl had proposed observance of a ‘black day’ against the Supreme Court decision. However, “it is agreed that a public campaign would be launched against the decision of the Supreme Court”, Fazl told the media.

He also questioned the silence of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in the present circumstances. The PDM, he added, demanded that the ECP pronounce its decision of the prohibited funding case. “Turning a blind eye to this case is against the national security,” he said.

Fazl criticised the PTI Chairman Imran Khan, saying that his party’s focus was only on fake social media accounts. “America has been paying rent of Imran Khan’s house for eight-nine years,” he told a questioner.

Speaking on the occasion, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz said that the government’s demand for the formation of the full court was rejected because the verdict based on injustice was to be given. There was no other reason for rejecting the plea for full court, she added.

Meanwhile, Fazl invited former PDM members – the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Awami National Party (ANP) – to return to the alliance’s fold. At present, both the parties are part of the ruling coalition.