ISLAMABAD: The coalition government, led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, met on Tuesday amid deepening political and economic crises in the South Asian country, sending a message to the judiciary that it would not accept a decision made without consulting all stake-holders. 

The statement came after PM Sharif presided over a meeting of a coalition of 13 political parties, wherein they discussed the option of talks with the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party as well as friction with the judiciary over elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.  

The cash-strapped South Asian nation of 220 million is in the grip of political and economic crises as the country’s top court has been pushing the government and the country's election regulator to hold the general elections for Punjab and KP assemblies on May 14.  

The federal cabinet and parliament have repeatedly rejected the court's demand to provide of Rs21 billion ($74 million) funds to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for the polls.  

“The coalition partners' unity has become a matter of worry for the opposition,” the prime minister said, while lauding efforts of finance and foreign ministers as well as the army chief to revive a $6.5 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout program.  

The apex court this month directed the central bank to allocate and release Rs21 billion to the election regulator by April 17, but parliament rejected it through a motion on Monday.  

In compliance to the order, the state bank and the election commission on Tuesday submitted their reports to the top court about the provision of said funds.  

The court may now take up the matter again, while legal experts believe it may initiate contempt proceedings against PM Sharif for refusing to release the funds and provide the required security personnel for the elections.  

“In a democracy, the decisions are made through consultation, they are not imposed,” the prime minister said, adding that even the bar councils had raised their voice against the Supreme Court judgment regarding the elections.  

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), a key coalition partner, has already constituted a three-member committee to pave the way for a dialogue with ex-premier Imran Khan’s party to end the ongoing impasse.  

Sirajul Haq, the chief of another coalition partner Jamat-e-Islami, has also held meetings with PM Sharif and Khan to hold talks over the elections. Haq’s party is planning to convene an all-parties conference after Eid Al-Fitr to bring down the political temperature andto reach a unanimous date for nationwide polls.  

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 Sharif has previously refused to accept the verdict to hold polls and maintains the three judges who announced it were “biased” against the ruling coalition. It says it does not have enough funds to hold the provincial polls separately as the South Asian country struggles to get a $1.1 billion bailout tranche from the IMF to put off a default on its international debt obligations. 

During Tuesday's meeting, the prime minister apprised the coalition partners about the ongoing talks with the IMF on revival of the stalled bailout program, saying “the issue of IMF is in the final phase.”  

A hope for revival of the IMF program rekindled after Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates recently assured the IMF of depositing $2 billion and $1 billion respectively in Pakistan’s central bank to shore up its dwindling foreign exchange reserves.  

The prime minister hoped the IMF program would be revived as “their last conditionality was to make deposits.”