NA bars govt from releasing poll funds

The National Assembly on Thursday ruled against providing funds to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hold elections in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa to meet the May 14 deadline set by the Supreme Court, creating new discord between the judiciary and government amid months of political and economic turmoil.

Earlier in the day, the standing committees on finance of both the houses of parliament unanimously rejected the bill that the government had proposed this week for settling a dispute over Rs21 billion payments for holding elections in the two provinces.

On April 4, the apex court had fixed May 14 as the date for the polls in Punjab and directed the federal government to release the election funds to the ECP by April 10 for elections to both assemblies.

The government, instead of disbursing the funds to the commission, had referred the matter to the Parliament, where Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Monday tabled a bill titled “Charged Sum for General Election (Provincial Assemblies of Punjab & Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) Bill 2023”.

The chief justice had already summoned finance officials to his chamber on Friday to seek a reply on the funds, warning that non-compliance would have consequences.

On behalf of the Standing Committee on Finance chairman, committee member Syed Hussain Tariq presented the report on the Charged Sums for General Election (Provincial Assemblies of the Punjab and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) Bill, 2023. The committee, in its report, recommended not to approve the bill.

Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar moved the motion to consider the bill but the house rejected the motion for further consideration as the committee recommended not to approve it.

The minister said legislation was the only way to allow the finance division to have an entry or transfer amount from the Federal Consolidated Fund, but the standing committee had recommended not to approve it.

However, MNA Mohsin Leghari of the PTI objected to Dar’s statement, saying that the Supreme Court’s order was already covered under Article 81 (b), saying there was no need to table a separate bill for authorising the same.

Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar said, “Article 81 does not allow to give general expenditure from the Federal Consolidated Fund and thus the legislation is necessary for allocation of fund for the specific purpose.”

Earlier, in their separate sittings on the same day, the National Assembly and Senate standing committees on finance recommended to their respective houses to reject the bill.

The decisions by both the standing committees, vetted by the National Assembly, suggest that the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) will fight till the end to stop holding provincial assemblies elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

PTI’s Senator Mohsin Aziz voted against the bill on the ground that the introduction of the Money Bill was unconstitutional and the matter should not have been brought before parliament.

The other members rejected the bill on the grounds that the country cannot afford to have elections in Punjab alone and that the government did not have fiscal muscles for Rs21 billion spending on elections due to the deepening economic crisis.

The meetings of the standing committees were suddenly convened a day earlier. The members from the ruling alliance received phone calls from the Prime Minister’s Office and from their parties to attend the early morning meetings and vote against the Bill, at least three members of these committees told The Express Tribune on condition of anonymity.

There was only Rs5 billion allocations for elections in the current fiscal year’s budget and any excess payment to the ECP would stress the budgetary targets, said Dr Aisha Pasha, the Minister of State for Finance.

The chairman of the NA standing committee on Finance, Qasier Ahmed Sheikh of the PML-N, was reluctant to consider the bill due to the continued absence of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar from the committee proceedings. He at one point threatened to resign in protest against Ishaq Dar’s continued absence from the committee.

“We are bound to follow the party instructions and it is not the day to link the approval or rejection of the bill with Ishaq Dar’s appearance,” said MNA Ali Pervaiz of the PML-N.

MNA Khalid Magsi of the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) also opposed the bill and said that holding elections in Punjab alone would give negative signals to smaller federating units.