ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet will meet today to decide the fate of provincial elections in the Punjab province, local media reported on Sunday, amid a confrontation between the government and higher judiciary over delay in polls.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan this week ordered elections in the most populous Punjab province on May 14. The top court had taken a suo motu notice of a delay in polls for Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial assemblies, which were dissolved by ex-prime minister Imran Khan’s party and allies in January to force early elections nationwide since Pakistan historically holds the provincial and national elections together.
The government of PM Shehbaz 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. Sharif’s party has demanded the top judge to even step down over what it says were “flagrant violations of the law and the constitution.”
The federal cabinet would meet in Lahore and decide whether to issue funds to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for holding the polls in Punjab on May 14, Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper reported.
“This is an important meeting on the current issues. However, its agenda has not been circulated as yet,” Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
The minister added that “significant decisions” could be taken in the huddle today.
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.
A number of top court judges also recused themselves from the election delay case hearings in recent days, casting further doubts on the credibility of the verdict to hold polls in Punjab and KP provinces.
