The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday resumed hearing a plea seeking to hold general elections to all the national and provincial assemblies in the country simultaneously. A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar is hearing the case.During the previous hearing, the apex court had said it was ready to show flexibility, provided political parties came to a consensus on elections, but at the same time made it clear that it was difficult for the court to go back on its order fixing May 14 as the date for elections to the Punjab Assembly.

The court had issued notices to the PTI, PML-N, PPP, JUI-F, MQM-P, BNP-Mengal, Awami National Party, Balochistan Awami Party, PML-Q, the law secretary, Election Comm­ission of Pakistan (ECP), Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan and Jamaat-i-Islami, asking the parties to send their senior office-bearers for today’s proceedings.Ahead of the hearing, a number of political leaders including Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar, PTI leaders Fawad Chaudhry and Shah Mahmood Qureshi, PML-N leaders Khawaja Saad Rafique and Ayaz Sadiq, PML-Q’s Tariq Bashir Cheema, MQM leader Sabir Hussain Qaimkhani, JI emir Sirajul Haq and others arrived at the court.

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

At that, the petitioner’s counsel, Shah Khawar, informed the court that representatives of a number of political parties were present in the courtroom and suggested that each leader should be given a chance to speak. The counsel also requested that elections should be held simultaneously throughout the country.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 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.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-INP