Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Umar Ata Bandial has commended Jamaat-i-Islami chief Sirajul Haq for initiating a “noble and good cause” of arranging talks among leading political parties on the issue on holding elections. CJP Bandial paid tribute to Sirajul Haq's effort and prayed that he succeeds in his mission. A three-judge bench led by CJP Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar on Thursday took up the case about holding simultaneous elections in the country filed by a citizen.

Leaders of a number of political parties were present in the courtroom except of PML-N’s, though federal ministers Azam Nazeer Tarar, Ayaz Sadiq and Ataullah Tarar reached the apex court building. On spotting PTI’s Shah Mehmood Qureshi in the courtroom, the CJP asked him whether his party agrees with the Supreme Court’s proposal of talks. Qureshi responded the PTI has always upheld the Constitution. “The party will accept whatever order the Supreme Court issues,” he added.

The CJP then announced a brief break in the hearing, saying let’s government representatives arrive in the court. Attorney General of Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan informed the court that they thought the hearing will begin at 11.30 am, but it started half an hour earlier. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court had declared as inadmissible for hearing the defence ministry’s plea to hold general elections across Pakistan simultaneously upon completion of the terms of the national as well as Sindh and Balochistan assemblies. The apex court had also warned the government of “serious consequences” if it failed to release the funds required for conducting polls in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Ahead of the hearing on Thursday, a number of political leaders including Federal Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar, PTI leaders Fawad Chaudhry and Shah Mehmood Qureshi, PML-N leaders Khawaja Saad Rafique and Ayaz Sadiq, PML-Q’s Tariq Bashir Cheema, MQM leader Sabir Hussain Qaimkhani and others reached the court after they were issued notices a day earlier.

At the outset of the proceeding, CJP Bandial lauded the efforts of JI Amir Sirajul Haq for holding a dialogue between the government and the opposition, saying the court would also do its part in this “good deed”. For his part, PTI’s Qureshi said his party respected the courts and asserted that the country could only move forward by upholding the Constitution. “We are with the Supreme Court, let’s see what is the government’s stance,” he added.

Acknowledging the presence of the political leaders, the CJP expressed his gratitude and stated that the leadership was willing to address the problem at hand. He, however, cautioned that relying solely on court orders to find a solution could lead to complications, but acknowledged that political parties working together could pave the way for a solution. Justice Bandial noted that both the Ministry of Defence and the petitioner were calling for simultaneous elections across the country. He also mentioned that the attorney general had previously raised a similar point, which had unfortunately been subject to political obstruction.

The CJP noted that Farooq H Naek, representing the PPP, had also expressed support for the same argument, but a boycott prevented progress. justice Bandial cited newspaper reports indicating that the PPP and PML-N leadership supported dialogue as a means of resolving the issue, at which Naek informed the court about the presence of Khawaja Saad Rafique, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Tariq Bashir Cheema as well as MQM, and BNP representatives.

He told the court that the ruling political alliance believed that the 90-day period for elections had passed and that the court had already extended the date for polls twice. Naek also stated that political parties had already started working together for the elections, with Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto meeting JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman on the matter. He informed the court that they would meet with the PTI to end the ongoing tensions, with the aim would be to create a political consensus and said that the government coalition’s political dialogue would be completed immediately after Eid.

Subsequently, PML-N representative and Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique came to the rostrum and reiterated the PPP’s stance. He said that his party also wanted elections to be held simultaneously. “We don’t want anarchy and unrest in the country,” he said, stressing that PML-N believed in dialogue and wanted to derive solutions to political issues through negotiations. Saad Rafique also said that the PML-N had called a meeting of allies after Eid and was ready to talk to the opposition. After Rafique, the representatives of all the allied parties — MQM, BNP and PML-Q — told the court that they wanted elections to be held at the same time and supported dialogue. The court then called PTI’s Qureshi to the rostrum.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-INP