Will SC decision on polls date unnerve govt?

ISLAMABAD:

At a time when people are on their toes for a Supreme Court judgment on the Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa polls’ delay case, the political experts said that the slogan of “‘justice first and elections later” by PML-N Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz shows her desperation apparently emanating from the PML-N’s growing unpopularity.

The experts while commenting the expected outcome of the apex court’s proceedings said that elections were expected to be held within the constitutional limit of 90 days if the government didn’t have sound reasons to delay its further, saying Maryam’s demand was merely a political statement just ahead of the court’s decision.

The Supreme Court has taken up the matter of the delay in elections in the two provinces while exercising suo motu powers and its judgment is expected on March 1 (today).

The experts opined that the apex court’s judgment would be the beginning of the resolution of the ongoing constitutional crisis but feared that the political and economic crises were not likely to resolve anytime soon because of the inflexible attitudes of the political parties.

“Justice first and elections later is an expression of desperation,” renowned political expert Zaigham Khan said. “It appears Maryam Nawaz has the realisation of PML-N's growing unpopularity.”

In his opinion, the Supreme Court will order the government to hold elections in 90 days as this is a clear injunction in the Constitution. “The elections should be held and in my opinion will be held according to the timeline set in the Constitution,” he said.

Zaigham felt that the current economic crises will prevail for two to three years due to Pakistan's external obligations.

“The political crises may not be solved either due to Imran Khan's inflexible attitude towards his political opponents and his opponents’ parties trying to pay in the same coin,” he said.

Dr Rasul Bakhsh Rais, a professor of political science at LUMS, is of the view that it is not for Maryam, any political party or any citizen to determine whether justice has been delivered or not, saying one can have an opinion about the system or a particular judgment but it is the constitutional prerogative of the Supreme Court to give rulings.

In countries where courts and the rule of law are respected, the professor said, nobody raises questions about the integrity of the judges as the politicians, including Maryam, seems to be raising.

“I think this is a political statement and has no moral and legal standing at all,” Professor Rais said, adding that the top court is going to decide who has the power under the Constitution to give a date for election – is it the ECP, the president or the governor – as the multi-dimensioned political crisis turned into a constitutional crisis after the two provincial assemblies were dissolved on Jan 14.

Apparently, Professor Rais said, the PML-N led government doesn’t want elections fearing it will lose but the PTI dissolved the two provincial assemblies to get a fresh mandate, predicting that the SC judgment (today) will be the first step towards the resolution of the ongoing constitutional crisis.

He regretted that the apex court also gave an opportunity to the political parties to resolve the issue of provincial and national elections through consultation among themselves and set a common date for elections but to no avail.

Had there been any political acumen, wisdom, political understanding of the history and the nature of the crisis, which is affecting economy and people, Professor Rais said, both the PDM and the PTI should have sat together on the negotiation table and given a date acceptable to both the sides.

Following the apex court’s decision, the professor said, if elections are held within 90 days, “it will become very difficult for the federal government to claim any legitimacy.”

Professor Rais said that the “political crises in the long run are not likely to end as long as we have the kind of political alignments, coalitions, backings and vested interests”, adding that the top court fulfilling its constitutional responsibility by exercising suo moto jurisdiction was “quite remarkable”.

Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (Pildat) President Ahmed Bilal Mehboob opined that elections should be held as per the constitutional provisions despite the fact the crisis will further deepen during and after the elections.

The reason, the Pildat chief added, is that PTI chief Imran Khan didn’t dissolve the two provincial assemblies to get them re-elected again, he did so to get NA re-election, saying: “I think his agitation will continue till he gets NA elections.”
If the government has sound reasons to defer the two provincial assemblies’ election beyond 90 days, Mehboob said, it should put its case before the ECP and seek postponement openly.

The political expert said that only the ECP has the power to change election schedule according to Section 58 of Elections Act, 2017.

The ECP may or may not agree, he said, adding that the final decision rests with the Supreme Court after one of the two parties challenges the ECP decision.

He felt that the societal division and polarisation has now manifested in the Supreme Court as well. “It is only a matter of time that it raises its ugly head in other institutions,” Mehboob feared. “Apparently, we are moving towards a disaster.”