Impasse: SC seeks suggestions from political parties

Court to affix responsibility for financial, human losses caused by sit-ins

ISLAMABAD:

The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought suggestions from all parliamentary parties regarding a solution to the ongoing political impasse.

A five-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk also asked Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rasheed to find a solution for removing protesters from Parliament’s premises.

Aitzaz Ahsan, the counsel for the Pakistan Peoples Party and Jamaat-e-Islami, requested the bench to pass an order regarding the removal of the protesters from Parliament. The chief justice, however, said the National Assembly speaker has the power to pass an order in this regard.

The bench also decided to affix responsibility for the losses caused as a result of the ongoing protests in the federal capital so that such an incident doesn’t take place in the future. Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali asked the attorney general for Pakistan to submit the details of financial losses as well as losses to public property, any killings, and expenditure on law and order due to these sit-ins. He also said the government should proceed against those taking the law into their own hands.

During the hearing, Raza Rabbani, the counsel for Balochistan National Party and Awami National Party, contended that the federation is under threat due to the ongoing crisis. He stated that the protesters are demanding the dissolution of all assemblies. He said there is no implicit charge of rigging in the provincial assemblies elections. The counsel said that following the 18th constitutional amendment, no provincial assembly can be dissolved without the advice of the relevant chief minister.



The counsel requested the bench to examine if the new concept of the federation as developed after the passage of the 18th amendment is being violated in present political scenario. Justice Jawwad S Khawaja endorsed with his stance. Rabbani also suggested that the court may ask Parliament for proper legislation for constituting a judicial body to probe the alleged rigging.

Justice Asif Khosa observed that the court should also find out the root cause of the protests. “Rigging is a very serious allegation levelled by a political party, which got 7.6 million votes in last general elections,” he added. Rabbani also suggested the court ask the Parliament for proper legislation for constituting a judicial body to probe the alleged rigging.

Justice Mian Saqib Nisar said that CBR, Federal Shariat Court, Election Commission of Pakistan and other state institutions have not been functioning for the last seven days and 80 per cent of cases have been adjourned due to the protests. He asked why the protesters moved towards the PM House as the situation deteriorated due to this decision.

“Is it not the legal and moral duty of both protesting parties to get permission from the federal government regarding their entrance into the Red Zone?” the CJP asked the AML chief.

Sheikh contended that the PTI chief received permission from the interior minister, adding that text messages exchanged between the two leaders can prove this. He also stated that the nation trusts the Supreme Court and both parties want its involvement in this matter. He also stated that people are facing problems due to containers barricading different parts of Islamabad.

Justice Jawwad S Khawaja also asked whether protesters want the court to allow anarchy in the country. The hearing of the case was adjourned until Friday.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 4^th, 2014.