CJP has imposed judicial martial law: Fazl

Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the president of the ruling coalition Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), has accused Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial of imposing a "judicial martial law" by usurping powers of the other pillars and the state.

“The CJP is interfering with the authority of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the parliament, and the executive,” Fazl said in a press conference held in Islamabad on Saturday.

The PDM government and the top judiciary have been engaged in tug of war since February when the apex court took suo motu notice of delay in announcement of polls for the Punjab and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) assemblies and later on April 4 ordered the ECP to hold polls in Punjab on May 14.

On April 13, the apex court—which is now also facing internal divisions—also barred the implementation of a piece of legislation that aimed at curtailing the top judge’s powers to initiate suo motu proceedings and constitute benches in what is defined by some as an unprecedented preemptive move.

Earlier, on April 4, the federal government removed SC Registrar Ishrat Ali from his position. However, a three-judge bench led by CJP Bandial directed Ishrat to not leave the office on the same day.

Referring to the incident, Fazl said the government is empowered to appoint the registrar of the Supreme Court but the CJP halted this appointment, leading to a judicial martial law.

He emphasised the need for respecting the constitutional division of powers and avoiding interference in the jurisdiction of other institutions.

When asked about Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) supreme leader Asif Ali Zardari's proposal for talks with the  Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Fazl responded with clarity. He rejected the possibility of any talks with Imran Khan, the head of the PTI, and referred to him as an "unnecessary element" in politics.
He said the PPP has its own political philosophy, while also recalling that the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) had previously suggested resigning from the assemblies and opting for new elections.

“It was the PPP’s proposal to move a no confidence motion against the Imran Khan government. If our suggestion of resigning from assemblies had been accepted, elections would have been held by now and there would be stability in the country.”

“We are paying the price of not dissolving the assemblies. Now the rising inflation has put us in a difficult situation while Imran is using the situation to his benefit,” he said, adding that: “we cannot afford more experiments.”

The JUI-F chief revealed that when his party was staging a sit-in in the federal capital in November 2019, former army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa's representative General (retd) Faiz Hameed and Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) leader – Parvez Elahi and Chaudhry Shujaat—had promised to him that assemblies would be dissolved and elections would be held if his party ended its sit-in.

“However, that commitment was never honoured. They later claimed that they did not make any such commitment. The present crisis must serve as a moment of introspection for these people and institutions,” he added