ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s party on Friday demanded Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial step down from his post over what it said were “flagrant violations of the law and the constitution,” amid a standoff between the government and the judiciary.
The development came after Supreme Court Justice Athar Minallah called on the judiciary to exercise “extreme restraint” in entertaining political questions, since a perception of bias on the part of the top court eroded public confidence.
Justice Minallah was among the four judges who had earlier rejected a suo motu case on elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) provinces, but a three-member bench, led by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, later ordered polls in Punjab on May 14.
The government of PM Sharif has refused to accept the verdict and maintains the three judges who announced it were “biased” against the ruling coalition, leading to a constitutional crisis in the South Asian country already suffering from economic woes.
“CJP Umar Ata Bandiyal has committed flagrant violations of law & constitution to favor Imran Khan/Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. This blatant abuse of authority has led to an unprecedented revolt-like situation in the Supreme Court of Pakistan,” Maryam Nawaz, chief organizer of PM Sharif’s party, said in a series of tweets.
“Judges of impeccable repute have raised serious questions on the chief justice’s conduct & bias. No chief justice has ever been accused of such misconduct. His tilt toward PTI is glaring. CJP Bandiyal must RESIGN.”
The current crisis stems from a delay in elections for the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial assemblies, which were dissolved by Khan’s party and allies in January to force early elections nationwide, since Pakista historically holds the provincial and national elections together.
According to Pakistan’s constitution, elections must be held within 90 days of the dissolution of a legislative assembly.
The government says it is economically not viable to hold the snap elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa first and then have another general election this year in October.
Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party accuses the judiciary of “crippling” the government and rendering parliament “worthless,” criticizing the judges for facilitating military dictators who had ousted elected governments in the past.
“I believe that it is extremely regrettable to destroy everything by crippling the state for the love of a favored one,” Nawaz Sharif, three-time former prime minister and elder brother of PM Sharif, said in a hard-hitting press talk on Tuesday.
“I understand that a reference should be filed in the Supreme Judicial Council against the judges for the verdict. Today’s decision is a chargesheet against them.”
The three-time former prime minister urged parliament to “assert” itself in the current constitution crisis.
A number of top court judges also recused themselves from the election delay case in recent days, casting further doubts on the credibility of the verdict to hold polls in Punjab and KP provinces.
