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Wednesday, 5 April, 2023 I 14 Ramzan, 1444
Rs 15.00 | Vol XIII No 277 I 8 Pages I Islamabad Edition
punjab polls on may 14 as sC rules eCp deCision ‘unConstitutional’ Says nominations be filed till Apr 10, final list be published on Apr 19, with electoral symbols be issued by Apr 20 g Orders release of funds by April 10 g
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ISLAMABAD
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Staff RepoRt
N what has been billed as a verdict that buried the so-called doctrine of necessity, the Supreme Court declared the decision of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to delay the vote in Punjab until October 8 as never to have existed and against the Constitution by reviving the election schedule. Restoring the election schedule issued by the tribunal on March 8 with some modifications, the unanimous verdict by a three-judge bench — headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and consisting of justices Ijaz ulAhsan and Munib Akhtar — then set May 14 as the new date for the election in Pakistan’s most populous province. However, the court will continue hearing the case of elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
ECP meets to ‘step up’ preparations for Punjab polls ISLAMABAD
“The impugned [March 22] order [of] the Election Commission of Pakistan [to postpone elections] is declared to be unconstitutional, without lawful authority or jurisdiction, void ab-initio, of no legal effect and is hereby quashed,” the judgement on Tuesday read. “Neither the Constitution nor the law empowers the Commission to extend the date of elections beyond the 90 days period as provided in Article 224-2 of the Constitution,” it added. The ruling, on a petition moved by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) to challenge the tribunal’s decision, was reserved on Monday after the bench heard all the stakeholders — including the opposition party, election tribunal, and members of the ruling Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) coalition. In its order, the court directed the commission to conduct the election in Punjab by May 15, lamenting that its de-
Verdict says neither Constitution nor law empowers ECP to extend polls date beyond 90 days
cision had wasted 13 days of the electoral process. The verdict instructed candidates to submit their nomination papers by April 10 and the commission to publish the list of candidates on April 19, with electoral symbols to be issued by April 20. The judges observed that during court proceedings the commission had explicitly said it could conduct the general elections with integrity, impartiality, and fairness if it was given appropriate support and cooperation from the executive authorities in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Centre. The ruling said the court took note of this statement, before ordering the federal and caretaker governments to assist the agency and release Rs21 billion for the elections by April 10. It warned that in case of non-provision of funds, an appropriate order would be issued. If there is a shortage of funds for the elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa later, the ECP can make a request to the court for “consideration and appropriate orders,” the commission was told.
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fiqah-e-hanfia lahore sehr: 4:25 aM iftar: 6:25 PM
islaMabad sehr: 4:26 aM iftar: 6:31 PM
karachi sehr: 5:03 aM iftar: 6:50 PM
fiqah-e-jafaria lahore sehr: 4:15 aM iftar: 6:35 PM
islaMabad sehr: 4:18 aM iftar: 6:40 PM
karachi sehr: 4:53 aM iftar: 7:00 PM
Govt rejects, PTI hails SC ruling overturning Punjab polls postponement ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt
The opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party welcomed the Supreme Court verdict overturning the election commission’s decision to postpone the vote for Punjab Assembly as a milestone in the nation’s political history while the federal cabinet declared the court’s decision as a ‘minority verdict’ and ‘non-implementable’ with its law minister sees the ruling fueling the “constitutional and political crises” in the country. The decision comes months after the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf dissolved the assemblies in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in a (failed) bid to force snap national elections. Since his ouster last April in a noconfidence vote in Parliament, Imran Khan, chairman of the party, has been demanding early elections. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has dismissed the demand and kept to elections sched-
uled for later this year. ‘SC buried doctrine of necessity’: Speaking to reporters outside the court, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, deputy chairman of the party, emphasised that the ruling distinguishes between democratic and unconstitutional forces, and praised the court for restoring the sanctity of the Constitution and burying the so-called doctrine of necessity. He went on to say that the chief election commissioner, Sikandar Sultan Raja, was now free to conduct elections, as the court had removed all pressures and provided adequate resources and security personnel for the task. He urged Raja to fulfil his constitutional responsibility and conduct free, fair, and credible elections. Qureshi said Supreme Court’s ruling was a defeat for followers of [doctrine of necessity and Justice Munir]. He congratulated Imran Khan and the entire lawyers’ community.
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PM likens SC’s verdict on Punjab Rupee sinks to historic low of Rs288 against poll to ‘judicial murder’ of ZAB greenback ISLAMABAD
KARACHI
Staff RepoRt
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Staff RepoRt
Following the Supreme Court verdict in the Punjab polls delay case, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Tuesday directed its official concerned to speed up the preparations for the conduct of general elections in Punjab on May 14. According to the report of a private television, an important meeting of the ECP was held in Islamabad to review the decision of the Supreme Court on Tuesday. In the context of the Supreme Court verdict, important decisions were taken during the meeting, sources said. In the meeting, it was decided that the Commission will contact the federal government soon to implement the Supreme Court verdict. The sources said the Election Commission’s advisory meeting has also been called for Wednesday (today). Meanwhile, an Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) press release said that a ‘consultative meeting’ has been convened to review the Supreme Court’s (SC) verdict on Punjab elections. The electoral watchdog summoned the meeting at 11am on Wednesday to consult over the SC verdict on Punjab elections, declaring the watchdog’s order to postpone polls of the Punjab Assembly till Oct 8 “unconstitutional”. The meeting would be chaired by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Raja Sultan.
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday referred to the judicial murder of late prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and said his murder took place on April 4, 1979, and on the same date today, the unfortunate episode was repeated with a decision of the Supreme Court in the polls delay case. Taking part in the National Assembly session, the prime minister equating the two decisions said today, a murder of justice took place which was highly regrettable. PM equated decision over polls delay to ‘judicial murder’ reminiscent of ZAB’s case He said in the cabinet’s meeting, they had demanded that a reference over the judicial murder of the late prime minister, which had been pending for the last 12 years, should be taken up and decided by the full court. He said the world knew that ZAB’s case was a ‘judicial murder’. One of the former judges, who had decided the case, had accepted it in his memories, he added. The prime minister also lauded late ZAB and said he was among the founders of the 1973 Constitution and his historic contribution would always be remembered. He also asked the House to pray for the departed soul of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. NAWAZ CALLS FOR REFERENCE AGAINST JUDGES: Meanwhile, PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif termed the Supreme Court’s decision as a “chargesheet” against the three-member bench that heard it, and said a reference should be submitted against its members in the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC). Addressing a media conference in London, Nawaz said: “I think a reference should be submitted in the SJC against these three judges for their decision which carries the status of a chargesheet
Rupee hit a new historic low of Rs288 against the US dollar on Tuesday in the interbank market amid delays in the revival of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan programme and high risk of default on foreign debt repayment. Local currency slide 1% (or Rs2.86) to Rs287.90 on Tuesday against the day earlier closing of Rs285.04 per US dollar. Last month, the rupee had hit a record low, closing at Rs285.09 per US dollar on February 3, 2023. Market reports suggest that importers have resumed the panic buying of US dollars, while the supply of foreign currency remained low in the interbank market. This situation is seen after the government said that Finance Minister Ishaq Dar would visit the United States on April 10-16 and make efforts to resume the IMF loan programme worth $6.5 billion. The government said that during his visit, Dar will be attending the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank along with other high officials in Washington DC. Pakistan has remained in talks with the Fund since late January to resume the programme stalled since November 2022. The delay has caused choking inflows of foreign financing. Accordingly, the country ’s foreign exchange reserves have depleted to a critically low level at $4.2 billion at present. The low foreign exchange reserves pose a serious threat of a likely default on foreign debt repayment in the near future. The government further said that Saudi Arabia has signaled a new bailout package for Pakistan, but how much and when it will be rolled out remains uncertain.
against them.” Nawaz said that the three-member bench had refused the decision of its four fellow judges. “What they call a verdict is not a decision but a one-man show in the words of the judges themselves, and the decision of this case has already come before from four judges,” he added. Nawaz said all of the above was being done in “love for a blue-eyed [boy] by paralysing the government and destroying everything”, adding that the current situation the country was passing through was “very sad and highly painful”. He alleged that this situation was not of his or the people’s making but the judges’ for the past 70 years. Nawaz alleged that the judges in the threemember bench rewrote the Constitution through their decision last year on a presidential reference seeking interpretation of Article 63-A of the Constitution while they reproached politicians for supposed unconstitutional actions. The PML-N supremo questioned why the three-member bench hesitated in making a full court bench for the Punjab polls case and was insistent on hearing it.
SBP raises policy rate to record high of 21pc to tackle inflation LAHORE Staff RepoRt
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) announced on Tuesday that it will raise the policy rate by 100 basis points (bps) to 21%, the highest ever, according to a press release issued by the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). The decision comes after the MPC meeting, which took into account the rise of inflation to 35.4% in March 2023, with the expectation of continued high inflation in the near future. However, there are early indications of inflation expectations plateauing, albeit at an elevated level. The committee believes that this decision is a crucial step towards achieving the objective of price stability, as it will anchor inflation expectations around the medium-term target. It also noted that Pakistan’s financial
sector remains broadly resilient, while economic activity continues to moderate. The committee noted three important developments that have implications on the macroeconomic outlook. First, the current account deficit has narrowed considerably, more than previously anticipated. Second, significant progress has been made towards the completion of the ninth review under the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program. Third, recent strains in the global banking system have led to further tightening of global liquidity and financial conditions. The MPC considered the current monetary policy stance as appropriate, stressing that the decision, along with previous monetary tightening, would help achieve the medium-term inflation target over the next eight quar-
ters. However, the committee noted that uncertainties attached with the global financial conditions as well as the domestic political situation pose risks to this assessment. The incoming data on economic activity continued to reflect a broadbased slowdown. There has been a significant decline in sales volumes of automobiles and petroleum products in recent months. The cumulative deficit now stood at $3.9 billion in Jul-Feb FY23, about 68% lower from the same period last year, mainly reflecting the contraction in imports. Workers’ remittances had slightly recovered on a month-on-month basis in Feb, and the momentum was expected to continue. Despite the lower current account deficit, higher loan repayments relative to disbursements are keeping the foreign exchange reserves under pres-
sure. Thus, the committee reemphasized that the early conclusion of the
ninth review under the IMF program is critical to rebuild the FX reserve buffers.