Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar has called for holding simultaneous elections in the country, saying according to the Constitution the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has the power to conduct polls.
Talking to foreign journalists in Islamabad on Thursday, the law minister said the Punjab Assembly had been dissolved in haste.
The law minister said Chief Justice of Pakistan had taken suo motu notice of the election issue and the nine-judge Supreme Court bench was gradually reduced to three-member bench.
He said the government had requested for formation of a full court which was rejected.
Earlier, Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar has said he can only express his sorrow over the Supreme Court decision on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf petition against delay in holding elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Addressing a press conference outside the Supreme Court here on Tuesday, he said Pakistan could not afford constitutional and political crisis.
He repeated the government claim that an apex court bench had rejected the suo motu notice by a margin of four to three despite Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial ruling against the notion in the verdict announced today. He once again prayed the chief justice to constitute a 13-member bench to hear the recent important matters pertaining to the law and constitution.
The minister said dignity and writ of the Supreme Court demanded such a course which would also serve the interests of the nation.
Pointing towards the division within the apex court, the law minister said being head of the institution, it’s the responsibility of the honourable chief justice to do away with it. He said there should not be confrontation between the institutions.
Responding to a question, he said the apex court’s decision regarding the provincial government elections would be discussed in the cabinet meeting being held today and parliament.
He said that the decision has added political and legal crises to the existing security and economic issues.
The law minister questioned why senior judges were being kept away from sensitive judicial matters. He stressed the Chief Justice for a full court session to resolve the issues.
He urged the Chief Justice to keep the institution [Supreme Court] united. “It is the need of the hour that the apex court act impartially to uphold the supremacy of the law,” he added.
