ISLAMABAD, April 26, 2023: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday addressed the federal cabinet and said it was not the domain of the Supreme Court to mediate among political parties.
The coalition government, he said, was determined to press for same-day polls. Sources quoted the prime minister as having said parliament rejected the April 4 decision of the three-member bench of the apex court and the government and its allies supported the top court’s 4-3 verdict.
The PM stressed that the Supreme Court, instead of paying heed to parliament’s concerns, was still trying to take the matter forward by the three-member bench.
Talking about the role of the Supreme Court in talks between the PTI and coalition government, the prime minister said the top court’s job was not mediation but to give decisions in line with the constitution.
He also levelled allegations against the PTI that rather than helping the incumbent set-up, it made the matters worse. He added that despite unsupportive behaviour of the PTI, the incumbent set-up was ready to hold talks with it for the country’s sake.
Highlighting the elections date, he said the current assembly would complete its term on Aug 13 and the polls would be held after 90 days of completion of the assembly. He said there was consensus within the ruling parties that the polls should be held on the same day.
Earlier, the PM presided over a consultation session of allies. The parliamentary leaders of the allied parties participated in the session. According to sources, the meeting began at 12:30pm at the Prime Minister’s House to discuss the current political situation and carve out a plan for the future.
The prime minister consulted leaders regarding negotiations with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the session also pondered over proposing a date of the upcoming elections in Punjab.
The Supreme Court advised the political parties to consult each other. Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari already expressed their stance at a press conference.
The Supreme Court would be informed about the decisions made during the consultations with the parties in the alliance.
Before Eidul Fitr, a three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar, had given the political parties a week to develop a consensus on the date for holding national and provincial elections simultaneously. The apex court had also directed them to submit a progress report on April 27 about the meeting of political leaders scheduled to be held on April 26.