PM: Mockery is being made with Constitution

ISLAMABAD (APP): Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday said with the recent decisions of the Supreme Court, a mockery was being made with the Constitution and laws of the country.
Addressing a meeting of the leaders of all coalition parties, the prime minister referred to a decision of the three-judge SC bench over holding of elections in two provinces and said a mockery was being made with the Constitution and law and the fate of the nation was being decided with strange decisions. He said he wanted to say that such kind of treatment with the Constitution and law had never been witnessed before and “such a terrible scene has never met eyes”.
The three-member bench had rejected the appeal for the constitution of a full bench and similarly, political parties’ pleas were also rejected, he added. The prime minister elaborated that last week, they held a detailed meeting, followed by two cabinet meetings and parliamentary meetings over the evolving situation.
How a decision of another bench was neglected while members of the three-judge bench who had earlier recused themselves and again joined it, he questioned. A circular was issued over Justice Isa’s directive, followed by the formation of a six-member bench that took up the issue and decided it, he added.
The prime minister said the members of the National Assembly had debated the issue in the ongoing session and a resolution had already been passed while tomorrow, another resolution would be tabled in the House. He also highlighted the directive of the three-member bench with regard to the holding of elections in Punjab province and the observation over the election in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The prime minister said the purpose behind holding of the meeting of coalition parties was to mull over the situation and evolve a solid response.
Earlier, the Minister for Energy Engineer Khurram Dastagir Khan on Wednesday said that the coalition government wanted to hold general elections after completing the most important task of census and delimitation.
Without completion of the task of census and delimitation, the election results could not be made transparent, he expressed his fear while talking to a private television channel. Organizing elections with old data of population or census, would create many issues for political parties and ECP, he added. The minister said that the incumbent government is engaged in collecting data of the population through the census. He said security has been deployed to various parts to finish the process of the census. The Election Commission of Pakistan would have the requirement of security for polling stations and a heavy amount to bear the responsibility of the next elections in the country, he said.
In October, he said the government would provide all required security and finance to ECP to arrange polling in Pakistan. Commenting on the court decision over the elections, he said that all the political partners would discuss the issue of early elections at the forum of parliament. Khurram Dastagir said that coalition partners had expressed reservations over the court verdict regarding elections. He said that a larger bench could help resolve the issue being faced by the political parties about elections. He suggested that next elections could be conducted in October and the people of four provinces could elect their representatives in a befitting manner. He hoped that Pakistan Muslim League-N, would win the next elections with thumping majority.