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APex CourT uPholdS 90-dAy deAdlIne for KP, PunjAb eleCTIonS
g ToP coURT dIRecTS PReSIdenT To conSUlT ecP on PUnJAB VoTe dATe, oRdeRS KP GoVeRnoR To AnnoUnce PollS dATe FoR KP
ISLAMABAD
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Staff RepoRt
Ina landmark judgement that buried the so-called doctrine of necessity, the Supreme court Wednesday declared that elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab, where ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) disbanded parliaments more than a month ago to pave way for an early vote, must take place within 90 days from the date of dissolution.
The two provinces have been under caretaker governments since early January, after their respective legislatures were dissolved. According to the constitution, these interim governments are supposed to remain neutral. however, former prime minister Imran Khan has repeatedly accused them of taking orders from the Pakistan democratic Movement (PdM) government in Islamabad.
The latest political crisis emerged last week after the governors in these provinces, both from PdM component parties, declined to give dates g ecP AcceleRATeS PRePARATIonS FoR elecTIonS In PUnJAB, KP for fresh elections and referred the matter to the election commission of Pakistan (ecP).
Subsequently, President Arif Alvi, using authority bestowed on him by the constitution, declared April 9 as the poll date after the tribunal, too, refused to perform its job.
Following the development, chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial intervened by taking a suo motu notice of the situation to settle the matter.
Justice Bandial led the fivejudge bench — which included Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar — that delivered the split 32 verdict on Wednesday.
The previous day, the proceedings began with judges debating whether President Alvi had the authority to act without the recommendation of the cabinet of Shehbaz Sharif. during the hearing, Justice Bandial highlighted the potential cost and negative impact of ongoing litigation on the public and political parties.
Today, the court noted in its
Imran suspends court arrest drive after SC verdict
LAHore: Welcoming the Supreme court judgement ordering the holding of polls in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab, Imran Khan on Wednesday announced the suspension of the court arrest drive and said his Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf (PTI) party will now move forward with the election campaign. his tweet came hours after the Supreme court announced the judgment on a suo moto notice with a 3-2 majority, ordering the holding of the vote within the constitutional timeframe of 90 days. “We welcome the [Supreme court] judgement. It was the responsibility of [Supreme court] to uphold the constitution and they have valiantly done that through their judgement today,” the former prime minister said. “We are [therefore] suspending our Jail Bharo movement [and] moving forward with [election] campaigns in KP [and] Punjab.” The assemblies of the two provinces were dissolved by Khan on January 14 in an attempt to compel the central government for snap elections, which are scheduled in october this year. The movement was part of Khan’s campaign that aims to protest the lodging of “sham cases” against the party leaders, including himself, and push the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for early elections. Khan was deposed as prime minister in April of last year after a contentious no-confidence motion was passed in parliament. he blamed his unceremonious ouster on a US-backed conspiracy, an allegation that Islamabad and Washington have refuted. The election commission, in october last year, disqualified Khan for “unlawfully selling gifts” he received from foreign dignitaries, igniting another political turmoil in the country. Staff RepoRt
ISLAMABAD
Ghulam abbaS even though the officials at PBS term this inflation as the highest inflation rate since 1973-1974, the economic survey of the same fiscal year shows the inflation of 29.3 %, making February’s inflation the highest ever in the country’s history. The PBS officials claim that the yearly average inflation for the 1973-1974 financial year was 32.78%.
Following the hike in fuel prices, interest rates, and import constraints, the inflation in the country has registered an alltime high of 31.6 % in February on a year-on-year basis. This was revealed in the data released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Wednesday.
According to the data released on Wednesday, consumer Price Index (cPI), increased to 31.5% on a year-on- judgement that the KP parliament was dissolved after the governor signed the summary, while the assembly of Punjab dissolved on its own after 48 hours due to the governor refusing to sign the summary. continued on page 02
Govt not to challenge verdict
ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Wednesday decided not to file a review plea against the Supreme court (Sc) verdict regarding elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa within 90 days.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held a meeting of PMl-n leaders in which the party president decided not to challenge the apex court verdict. PM Sharif also consulted party supremo nawaz Sharif on the Sc verdict in the suo motu notice. law Minister Azam nazir Tarar and Attorney General for Pakistan Shehzad Ata elahi briefed the meeting that the Sc gave a 4-3 verdict and disposed of the petitions. The prime minister agreed with the party’s legal team that advised against challenging the apex court verdict. It was suggested that instead of the Supreme court, the decisions of the high courts will be awaited. The PM will also establish contact with heads of the coalition parties on the Sc verdict, and discuss the further course of action.
PML-N’S StrAteGy oN eLectIoNS: The PMl-n legal team devised a strategy and decided to wait for the verdict of the lahore high court (lhc) on the general elections in the two provinces.
The election commission of Pakistan and the Punjab governor had moved the high court against an order of a single bench regarding fixation of date for holding elections in Punjab. Staff RepoRt
IMF not impressed as FBr falls behind on revised targets
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ISLAMABAD Shahnawaz ali
The FBR started the year with a revenue target of Rs. 7,471 billion for the current fiscal year 2022-23. however, after the negotiations with the IMF restarted, the fund put forth an even higher revenue target of Rs. 7,641 billion.
Keeping this new goal in mind the government introduced the mini budget of Rs. 170 billion, which was approved by the parliament, earlier this month. After the imposition of the new budget and the revised targets, the FBR now has to collect around 41% (Rs. 3,148) of the entire year’s tax in the last 4 months of the current fiscal year.
According to the latest data, the FBR has collected Rs 4,493 billion in the first eight months of the current financial year against Rs 3,820 billion collected in the corresponding period of last year depicting a year-over-year growth of 18%. on a monthly basis, the department has collected Rs 527.3 billion against a budget target of Rs 527 billion during the month of February 2023. even though this exhibited a growth of 16.3% compared to the same month last year, the taxation between the period of Jun-February, fell short by 212 billion, in the face of the revised targets. however, with headline inflation breach- ing the 31% mark, there is only so much indirect tax that can be collected. The government has imposed 170 billion in additional taxes and if the targets are not met, more taxation is likely to be imposed at the cost of their political capital. owing to the mini budget, the FBR showed impressive performance during the third quarter. As per the provisional data, direct tax collection grew at 47% during the first eight months of the current financial year. A consistent growth in direct taxes, particularly those from domestic sources, is, in large part, due to administrative and enforcement measures of the FBR. continued on page 02
govt finalises Ramazan relief package
ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Wednesday finalized the relief package for Ramzan. As per details, the government will provide Rs 5 billion subsidy on 19 necessary items in Ramzan. The subsidy is allocated to people who are registered in the Benazir Income support program in Utility stores. Sources within the Ministry of Industries & Production said that the subsidised items include flour, ghee, pulses, sugar etc. The decision to provide subsidy was made to provide relief to people from the lower class who cannot afford basic necessary items. Staff RepoRt year basis in Feb 2023. The yoy headline inflation increased by 27.6% in the previous month and 12.2% in Feb 2022. on a month-on-month basis, it increased to 4.3% in Feb 2023 as compared to an increase of 2.9% in the previous month and an increase of 1.2% in Feb 2022.
The main contributors of the high inflation in the country were food, beverage and transportation prices, which surged by more than 45%. other major contributions of the inflation were natural gas prices (62.82%), followed by lPG 35.55%, motor fuels 16.53%, cigarettes 15.64% and construction input items 5.51%. As per economists, the inflation may further go up, following the measures being taken by the government to cater to the IMF conditions, for a revival of the loan program. As per the data, on a month-on- month basis, the consumer Price Index (cPI), which measures the overall change in consumer prices based on a representative basket of goods and services over time, rose 4.3% in February 2023.
Inflation in urban and rural areas increased to 28.8% and 35.6% year-onyear, respectively. core inflation, which doesn’t include volatile food and energy prices, also slightly rose to 17.1% in urban areas and 21.5% in rural areas.
Average inflation between July to February Fy23 stood at 26.19% compared to 10.52% over the corresponding months of last year. The Finance Ministry of Pakistan has revised upward an inflation target to 30% from earlier forecast of 26% for the current fiscal year. official data showed that food inflation remained on the higher side in February, as it shot up to 41.9% year-
Full effort to arrest Imran after judicial complex attack: Sanaullah
Dear Readers, owing to the current import curbs, and the subsequent shortage of newsprint, specially our Berliner format, Pakistan Today has been temporarily shifted to an eight-page broadsheet format.
The quality of our coverage, however, will remain what it always has been.
PTI to speed up election campaign in Punjab, KP after SC verdict
LAHore: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan and former Punjab chief minister (cM) Pervaiz elahi Wednesday agreed to accelerate election campaign in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) after Supreme court’s (Sc) 3-2 verdict on polls. The development came during a meeting between the former premier and Pervaiz elahi, who called on him at his residence in lahore’s Zaman Park. Both leaders welcomed the Supreme court (Sc) verdict of elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to be held within 90 days. The political leaders also consulted on party’s future course of action after Sc decision.
Speaking on the occasion, Imran Khan lauded the apex court for upholding the constitution, saying that the nation’s struggle for the supremacy of the constitution has brought success. The former prime minister noted that the PTI will speed up its election campaign in Punjab and KP, directing the party leaders and workers to start preparations for polls. he also asked Pakistan democratic Movement (PdM) to abide by the constitution. Meanwhile, former Punjab cM Pervaiz elahi said that the country has to run according to the constitution and not on the wishes of nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz Sharif or Maryam nawaz. he also urged the judiciary to take suo motu of Maryam nawaz’s tirade against judges, saying that action should also be taken on the letter of former Attorney General Anwar Mansoor Khan. “Shehbaz Sharif and Maryam nawaz tried their best to run away from the elections,” elahi said, adding that the apex court’s decision has upheld the election by ordering to hold polls within 90 days. Staff RepoRt
Sadiq resigns as special envoy on Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD: Veteran diplomat Mohammad Sadiq resigned as Pakistan’s special representative to Afghanistan on Wednesday after serving the country as special representative for close to three years. “After serving close to three years as Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, I have requested the government that the time had come for me to move on and focus on my personal pursuits — family, books and agriculture/environment,” he said in a series of tweets on Wednesday.
Sadiq said that he was grateful to the prime minister and all the other stakeholders for their “wholehearted support” to him as the special envoy. “I deeply appreciate the hard work of many of my colleagues who spent long hours to make the Pakistan-Afghanistan relationship work,” he added. Staff RepoRt on-year and 4.3% month-on-month in urban areas, whereas the respective growth in prices in rural areas was 47% and 3.9% — a reversal of the trend where urban areas usually experience higher food prices.
In February, the annual change in general inflation in most groups was in double digits, data showed.
The categories that saw the highest jump alcoholic beverages and tobacco (54.92%), transport (49.88%), recreation and culture (48.41%), food and non-alcoholic beverages (42.13%) included perishable food items (47.59%) and non-perishable food items (44.68%), restaurants and hotels (35.20%), furnishing and household equipment maintenance (34.14%), miscellaneous goods and services (33.30%), health (18.49%), clothing and footwear (16.78%), education
(10.40%), housing and utilities (11.23%), and communication (4.62%).
In the food group, the items whose prices the most were onions (up 416.74%), chicken (96.86%), eggs (78.73%), rice (77.81%), gram whole (64.93%), pulse moong (56.43%), pulse gram (55.99%), wheat flour (55.92%), pulse mash (50.77%), cooking oil (50.66%), mustard oil (48.11%), dry fruits (47.88%), vegetable ghee (45.89%), fresh fruits (45.17%), beans (37.18%), milk fresh (31.99%), pulse masoor (27.76%), beverages (24.02%), potatoes (22.42%), fish (21.49%), meat (20.82%) and fresh vegetables (11.60%). Apart from cPI, the short-term Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) went up to 33.6% year-on-year in January from 30.5% a month ago. But it was higher compared to 18.7% in February 2022. continued on page
