In partnership with
Profit
ECP CHALLENGES SUPREME COURT Cement despatches by VERDICT ON PUNJAB ELECTION DATE declined 16.55pc during Thursday, 4 May, 2023 I 13 Shawwal, 1444
T
ISLAMABAD
STAFF REPORT
HE Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has requested the Supreme Court to review its order to hold the general election in Punjab on May 14, claiming the verdict was not in accordance with the Constitution and previous judgments and lacked regard for the law or the facts. On April 4, a three-judge bench of the court headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial had directed the government to release Rs21 billion for the elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and had fixed May 14 as the new date for elections to the Punjab Assembly, after quashing the electoral body’s decision to extend the polls date from April 10 to October 8. The court had also instructed the government to provide a security plan to the tribunal regarding the polls and keep the court informed of its measures. In response, the ECP had submitted reports to the court blaming the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) coalition for delaying the release of funds. The commission had argued that holding staggered polls in Punjab and KP would be more expensive than holding the exercise on a single day. Additionally, the ECP had said the security apparatus required advance preparation and was already depleted. With less than two weeks to go before the May 14 election date set by the
court, the ECP has filed a review petition through Sajeel Swati. The petition seeks a review of the court’s April 4 verdict on multiple grounds. This comes after the government and PTI developed a consensus on holding elections across the country on the same day but have yet to decide on a date. The hearing for the petition is yet to be fixed. The application said that “the framers of the Constitution have given the judicial institution a pivotal role in safeguarding and preserving the Constitution, but have at the same defined the ambit and scope of judicial intervention under sub-article 2 of the Article 175 of the Constitution”. The law mentioned above reads: “No court shall have any jurisdiction save as is or may be conferred on it by the Con-
Fiscal year 2023-24 federal budget likely on June 09
stitution or by or under any law.” The electoral body said the superior courts in Pakistan had been granted a special power by the Constitution to judicially review actions and decisions taken by public bodies, but “never substitute their own decision in lieu of the public bodies”. “The superior courts can define the contours within which the power (which vests in the public bodies) is or is to be exercised. At no instance, can the superior courts take upon themselves the role of the public body. With utmost deference, the appointing of the date for the election is not the mandate of superior courts under the Constitution. “Such power exists elsewhere under the Constitution but certainly does not lie in a Court of law,” the plea pointed out.
Rs 15.00 | Vol XIII No 304 I 8 Pages I Islamabad Edition
Therefore, it highlighted, while passing the order on April 4, the court “disregarded its constitutional jurisdiction and assumed upon itself the role of a public body in giving a date [for elections]; thus intervention by the Court is necessitated to correct an error which has effectively changed the settled constitutional jurisprudence of the country.” The petition also highlighted the “trichotomy of power”, saying that the division of power between different organs of the state was the “hallmark of the Constitution” and “essential sine qua non” for the smooth and efficient functioning of the country. “This well-embedded constitutional concept isolates the three organs from interfering and treading into the domain of the other. The judicial institution has been conferred the power to judicially review the actions and decisions of the executive while at the same time being restrained from exercising the executive authority itself.” The commission highlighted that the announcement of the date of general elections was “vested in the bodies” and not the judicial institution as per the Constitution. “Therefore the impugned order under review, humbly submitted, has breached the salient principle of the trichotomy of powers and thus is not sustainable,” it stated. The ECP explained that the conduct of free, just, and fair elections in accordance with the law was the “sole responsibility” of the commission.
Dar reassures IMF of commitment to programme PROFIT
STAFF REPORT
Pakistan’s Finance Minister, Senator Ishaq Dar, has reiterated the federal government’s commitment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme during a meeting with US Embassy Charge’d Affaires Andrew Schofer. The meeting comes amid reports of blame being shifted between Pakistani authorities and the IMF for the delay in reviving the bailout programme. The existing IMF programme expires on June 30, 2023. The finance minister informed Schofer about the ongoing IMF programme and assured him of the coalition government’s commitment to completing the programme. Schofer expressed his
ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT
Federal Budget for Fiscal Year 2023-24 will likely to be presented on June 09 or 10, sources said on Wednesday. The National Economic Survey will likely to be presented on June 08. Sources said that the National Economic Council (NEC) session, to be chaired by the prime minister will likely to be summoned in the first week of June. “The annual planning coordination committee will hold its session in the mid of May. The planning coordination committee will prepare features of the development budget. “The federal development budget will likely to be enhanced by 250 billion rupees in comparison to the current financial year budget,” sources said. The development budget for Fiscal Year 2023-24 could be over 900 billion rupees,” according to sources. A prior report said that the federal government has started preparations for the budget 2023-24 in which conditions forwarded by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are likely to be implemented. Sources privy to the development said the budget for Fiscal Year 2023-24 will be the ‘toughest’ in the country’s history. The mini budget might be merged with the budget 2023-24. With the merger of the mini budget in the federal government, the masses will be overburdened with taxes worth Rs 680 billion. The tax relief for the protected class is also considered to be tighter. Tax income will be increased in the FY2023-24 budget with regard to the inflation, the sources said.
confidence in Pakistan’s policies and programmes for economic stability and extended his support to advance economic and trade relations between the two states. The finance minister also discussed the economic situation and the difficult policy decisions
recently taken by the government to stabilise and boost the economy, ensuring sustainable and inclusive growth. Dar thanked the US charge’d affaires and reiterated the government’s desire to expand bilateral trade and investment ties with the US.
April 2023
ISLAMABAD GHULAM ABBAS
As the economic turmoil continues to grip the country, the cement industry in Pakistan is facing trouble with declining despatches during the month of April 2023. According to the data released by the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA), cement despatches declined by 16.55% during April 2023 as compared to the same period in the previous fiscal year. The local cement despatches by the industry in Pakistan during April 2023 were 2.531 million tons, which is a 25.13% decline from 3.380m tons in April 2022. However, export despatches increased by 168.61%, with the volumes increasing from 156,613 tons in April 2022 to 420,677 tons in April 2023. The North-based cement mills despatched 2.193m tons of cement in April 2023, showing a decline of 23.54% as compared to 2.868 million tons despatched in April 2022. Meanwhile, the Southbased mills despatched 0.758m tons of cement during April 2023, which was 13.44% more compared to the despatches of 0.669m tons in April 2022. During the first ten months of the current fiscal year, the total cement despatches (domestic and exports) were 36.55m tons, which is 17.50% lower than 44.306m tons despatched during the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. The domestic despatches during this period were 33.095m tons, against 39.506m tons during the same period last year, showing a reduction of 16.23%. The export despatches were also 27.99% less as the volumes reduced to 3.456m tons during the first ten months of the current fiscal year compared to 4.800m tons exports done during the same period last fiscal year. The current economic situation has badly impacted the cement consumption in the country, as stated by the spokesperson of APCMA. The decline in cement despatches is a reflection of the broader economic downturn in Pakistan. With the ongoing uncertainty and economic instability, it remains to be seen how the cement industry in Pakistan will perform in the coming months.
PTI seeks implementation of SC order on Punjab polls ‘in letter, spirit’ ISLAMABAD
STAFF REPORT
A day after the government and the opposition reached some semblance of consensus on country-wide polls, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Wednesday submitted a letter to the Supreme Court, seeking the implementation of the court’s order on holding elections in Punjab on May 14 “in letter and spirit”, stating that “in spite of the best efforts of parties, no solution within the Constitution” was found. A day earlier, the PTI and federal coalition concluded the make-or-break round of the much-awaited negotiations on polls. The talks began on the top court’s advice last week. Speaking to reporters after the sitting last night, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar — who was leading the government side — had told reporters that both sides had agreed to hold elections to the national and provincial assemblies on a single date under the watch of caretaker setups, but it had yet to be decided what that date would be. On the other hand, PTI leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi had regretted that no decision could be taken
on “practicable proposals” put forward by his party. Subsequently, PTI lawyers Faisal Chaudhry and Ali Bukhari submitted a report on the government-PTI negotiations in the apex court today. The report, a copy of which is available with this scribe, stated that after the Supreme Court’s order, talks between the government and the PTI were held “with full sincerity” on April 27, April 28, and May 2. It outlined that the parties arrived at the consensus that a dialogue between political parties was important and the solution to all political questions ultimately lay with the political parties. “Both teams shall endeavor to hold this dialogue with full sincerity and try to arrive at a solution that is (a) in the best interest of the people and Pakistan and (b) in accordance with law and the Constitution,” the report highlighted. It said that the parties also agreed not to use the dialogue as a “delaying tactic” and the talks “have no bearing” on the Supreme Court’s April 4 judgment “until and unless an agreement within the confines of the Constitution is arrived at between the parties and such agreement is implemented”.
The PTI recalled in the report that its initial stance was that elections to the assemblies needed to be held within 90 days as already determined by the SC. “This being the constitutional mandate, there is no scope for changing this date by ordinary consent of the parties. The request was accordingly made to the PDM/alliance to abide by the Constitutional provisions and the orders of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and hold the elections to the Punjab Assembly on 14.05.2023. It was also stressed that elections to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly be held forthwith as well,” the petition added. However, the PTI contended that the government’s stance was that elections to the national and provincial assemblies should be held on the same day in October 2023 after the dissolution of the National Assembly (NA) and the legislatures of Sindh and Balochistan. After deliberations, the report continued, the PTI extended a proposal to the ruling alliance that it was willing to hold the elections across the country on the same date subject to the following conditions: If the NA and other remaining provincial assemblies were dissolved by or before May 14.
PSX breaches 42,000 level despite political, economic woes PROFIT TLTP
Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) managed to break the psychological barrier of 42,000 points on Wednesday amid AKFED’s intention to purchase HBL shares and LUCK’s buyback, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining 160.29 points (+0.38 percent) to close at 42,087.93 points. The market opened on a sharp positive note, toeing previous sessions’ bullish momentum and remained in green for most of the day despite political instability and economic slowdown. However, profit-taking activity was witnessed and the market took a dip but it recovered soon and turned to positive again. The indices remained
volatile during the last half an hour trading; however, the benchmark index managed to close above 42,000 level. Around 23.53 million shares of HBL and 2.45 million shares of Luck were traded during the session. The Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) intends to purchase HBL shares. The KSE-100 Index moved in a range of 255.87 points, showing an intraday high of 42,171.68 and a low of 41,915.81 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index gained 123.86 points (+0.45 percent) to close at 27,769.64 points, while KMI All Share Islamic Index gained 152.29 points (+0.77 percent) to close at 20,049.97 points. A total of 380 companies traded shares in the stock exchange. Out of
traded companies, shares of 163 closed up, shares of 192 closed down while shares of 25 companies remained unchanged. A total of 97 companies traded shares in the KSE-100 Index, out of which 47 closed up, 48 closed down and two remained unchanged. The overall market volumes remained 287.75 million shares. Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index remained 135.52 million. The number of total trades increased by 13,353 to 113,758, while the value traded increased by Rs3.68 billion to Rs10.18 billion. Overall market capitalisation increased by Rs27.95 billion. Among scrips, WTL topped the volumes with 55.3 million shares, followed by
HBL (23.53 million) and MLCF (16.46 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes included WTL, HBL, MLCF, TPLP and FFL, which formed around 42 percent of total volumes. In terms of rupee, UPFL remained the top gainer and witnessed an increase of Rs1,537.5 (+7.46 percent) per share, closing at Rs22,137.5. The runner-up remained BHAT, the share price of which climbed up by Rs69.03 (+7.5 percent) to Rs989.55. SAPT remained the top loser in terms of rupee and witnessed a decrease of Rs74.06 (-6.3 percent) per share, closing at Rs1,100.94, followed by SFL, the share price of which fell by Rs50 (-4.76 percent) to close at Rs1,000 per share. The sectors taking the index towards
north were cement (139 points), paper & board (22 points), oil & gas exploration companies (17 points), food & personal care products (11 points) and oil & gas marketing companies (10 points). The most points added to the index were by LUCK (82 points), PKGS and CHCC (22 points each), and OGDC and PIOC (17 points each). The sectors taking the index towards south were technology & communication (60 points), insurance (10 points), automobile assembler (9 points), refinery (5 points) and automobile parts & accessories (4 points). The most points taken off the index were by SYS (49 points), EFUG (12 points), TRG (9 points), BAHL (7 points) and MEBL (6 points).