Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senior Vice-President Chaudhry Fawad Hussain on Monday demanded the Supreme Court initiate contempt proceedings against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the federal cabinet for not releasing funds to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for election in Punjab.
In a posting on Twitter, Fawad claimed that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP)’s failure to release funds on the orders of the Supreme Court was illegal. “The Supreme Court should initiate contempt of court proceedings against the prime minister and the cabinet and fulfil their desire of getting disqualified through court orders,” he wrote.
“No Parliament has the authority to prevent people from voting,” he continued. “Such a Parliament can lay the foundation of a fascist government, but it cannot have anything to do with a democratic system,” he said, adding that the Constitution does not grant Parliament any authority over election expenses.
In a separate tweet, the PTI leader also referred to the potential of dialogue between the ruling alliance and his party—both the PTI and PMLN have formed committees to advance talks—claiming the process was being hampered by the “non-serious” attitude of the parties comprising the government. He said any negotiations would be conducted in accordance with the Constitution and Supreme Court ruling, adding that the matter of polls in Punjab had already been decided and any talks would be limited to deciding a date for polls to the National Assembly.
Last week, a three-member bench of the Supreme Court—led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justices Ijazul Ahsan and Munib Akhtar—ordered the central bank to release Rs. 21 billion to the ECP for elections in Punjab and secure approval for them subsequently. It gave the SBP till April 18 to submit a compliance report confirming the funds had been released.
However, the SBP on Monday said that while it had allocated the funds, it could not release them without the directions of the Finance Ministry. The ministry, in turn, referred the matter to the federal cabinet, which decided to approach Parliament to decide whether or not the funds should be released. The Standing Committee on Finance subsequently rejected the request to release the funds, with Parliament validating the motion through a resolution.
This marked the third time the National Assembly has refused to release funds for polls in Punjab on May 14, as ordered by the Supreme Court.