PM, cabinet to be disqualified if funds for polls not released: Fawad

PTI senior leader says funds for elections are directly provided by the treasury

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior leader Fawad Chaudhry said on Monday that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his cabinet members will be disqualified for five years if they fail to release funds for the upcoming Punjab elections.

The former information minister took to Twitter and said that “according to the Constitution, funds for elections are provided directly from the treasury,” adding that the “Parliament has constitutionally dissociated itself from this process”.

“This process is called (Direct Charge on Consolidated funds), in this regard only the approval of the federal cabinet is required,” added the PTI leader.

 

آئین کے تحت انتخابات کیلئے فنڈز کی فراہمی براہ راست خزانے سے کی جاتی ہے اور پارلیمان نے اس عمل سے خود کو آئینی طور پر علیحدہ کر رکھا ہے، اس عمل کو (Direct Charge on Consolidated funds) کہا جاتا ہے، اس ضمن میں صرف وفاقی کابینہ کی منظوری درکار ہے

— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) April 10, 2023

 

Read Top court puts its foot down sets May 14 as date for Punjab polls

Fawad furthered that if “the federal government does not comply with the Supreme Court's (SC) decision and does not release funds today, the prime minister and cabinet members will be disqualified for five years.”

 

اگر وفاقی حکومت سپریم کورٹ کے فیصلے پر عمل نہیں کرتی اور آج فنڈز نہیں دیتی تو وزیر اعظم اور کابینہ کے اراکین پانچ سال کیلئے نا اھل ہوں گے

— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) April 10, 2023

 

The tweet by the former minister comes as the federal government is set to take up the matter of providing funds to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for holding Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) elections in Parliament today.

The decision was taken after PM Shehbaz chaired a cabinet meeting on the weekly holiday (Sunday) to deal with the "current political and constitutional crises" in the country.

The apex court last week had directed the federal government to provide Rs21 billion in funds by April 10 to the ECP, directing the electoral body to present a report on the issue by April 11.

Also read: Elections in K-P on Oct 8, announces ECP

The verdict had also said that the SC will issue instructions to the authorities concerned in case the funds are not provided.

Despite the court’s order, sources told The Express Tribune that the federal cabinet instead opted for debating the matter in Parliament before approving and issuing funds for the provincial elections.

The huddle also held legal consultations and discussed the coalition government’s strategy in view of the Supreme Court’s April 4 verdict ordering elections in Punjab on May 14.