Any unwise decision to spread anarchy, says Sana as poll controversy grows

Interior minister says govt can’t ‘even think’ of revoking SC orders as ‘we want to proceed as per the Constitution’ n It will be better for the country if all assemblies elections are held on same day n Govt forms JIT to probe attacks on courts n Punjab elections delayed ‘in national interest’, says info minister n Punjab caretaker CM defends ECP’s decision n Naqvi says commission to probe Imran’s allegations of ‘assassination plot’.

ISLAMABAD/LAHORE    –    Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has said that if the Supreme Court does not make a prudent decision regarding the Election Commis­sion of Pakistan (ECP) postpon­ing polls in Punjab, then the eco­nomic and political stability of the country will be impacted.

The minister said this yester­day in a series of tweets about the recent decision of the Elec­tion Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to postpone the general elections in Punjab till October 8.

“There will be chaos and anar­chy in the country if a wise deci­sion on the date of election was not made. (In this case) there will be no political and economic stability in the country,” the min­ister asserted.

He said that there are different opinions regarding the election and that the Parliament had the authority to guide the govern­ment and institutions.

Sana added that the incumbent government wanted to proceed according to the Constitution.

The interior minister stat­ed that on orders from the SC, the electoral watchdog gave the election schedule, and the gov­ernment had initiated the pro­cess under those directives. He maintained that the govern­ment could “not even think” of revoking the top court’s orders. Sanaullah added that there will be no level-playing field in the National Assembly elections in the presence of the ruling gov­ernment after the provincial elections, adding that questions would be raised on the conduct of fair and transparent elections.

The interior minister further said that it would be better for the country if the elections of all the assemblies were transparent, fair, and conducted at the same time in the presence of caretak­er governments. His statement comes as all eyes are set on Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial in the wake of the ECP’s surprising volte-face to postpone the Punjab elections, originally scheduled for April 30, till October 8. CJP Bandial – who has already made it clear that the Supreme Court would interfere in case the polls were delayed – had earlier invoked suo motu juris­diction to hold general elections of both provincial assemblies within 90 days. Earlier, speak­ing live through state-owned Pa­kistan Television (PTV), the in­terior minister unveiled that the government has formed a joint in­vestigation team (JIT) for “quick” investigation in terrorism cases registered against former prime minister Imran Khan and other “miscreants” for allegedly attack­ing Islamabad High Court (IHC) and the capital’s judicial complex.

The JIT has been tasked to com­plete the investigation of all cas­es and submit the challan before the courts within 14 days, as pro­vided under the law, he said. “The purpose is to bring to book all those troublemakers including PTI Chairman Imran Khan who restored to violence and dam­aged private and public proper­ties,” he said. Giving the details, he said that Additional Inspector General of Special Branch (Pun­jab) Zulfiqar Hameed is heading the JIT. Islamabad Police’s deputy inspector general (headquarters) and each official, not below grade 18, from Inter-Services Intelli­gence (ISI), Military Intelligence (MI), and Intelligence Bureau (IB) are its members, he added. Rana Sanaullah alleged that PTI chief Khan brought with himself armed mob intentionally during his appearance in IHC and judi­cial complex in connection with foreign funding and Toshakhana cases among others, against him, on February 28 and March 18 re­spectively. “The purpose was to influence the court proceedings and create such an atmosphere that the court cannot function in accordance with the law.”

The interior minister said that the Islamabad police had reg­istered four cases against Im­ran Khan and his supporters un­der terrorism and other charges. This is because the ex-premier along with his supporters force­fully entered the judicial com­plex and IHC on February 28, and damaged the official proper­ty, he said. He again brought with him an armed mob on March 18 who pelted stones on the law en­forcement personnel and set on fire official and private vehicles, he added. “The government has decided to pursue these cases ef­fectively to arrest all the miscre­ants including Khan,” he said. He said that all such accused should be prosecuted in anti-terrorism courts. The minister questioned why Khan’s supporters didn’t ac­company him when he appeared before the Lahore High Court earlier this week. He answered in the same breath that PTI had tasked each aspirant of its tick­et to bring 50 people with hims to attack the courts in the capi­tal. “A fair investigation would be carried out against all these cul­prits,” he maintained. He also ac­cused the opposition party lead­er of spreading propaganda that police chiefs of Islamabad and Punjab have made a plan to kill him. Rana Sanaullah giving an­other indirect reference to the apex court said that it should guide the government and the institutions. “We are ready to proceed with the matter under the Constitution.”

Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcast­ing Marriyum Aurangzeb said Thursday that the decision of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to postpone the Punjab As­sembly elections was in the in­terest of Pakistan. “The Election Commission took the decision keeping in mind the economic, political and security situation”, she said in a statement. The min­ister said that the ECP had saved the country from a big consti­tutional crisis and this decision would bring political stability in the country. Marriyum Aurang­zeb maintained that under Arti­cle 218 of the Constitution, the ECP has to ensure transparent, impartial and fair elections. Arti­cle 224 required that at the time of elections, caretaker govern­ments should be established at the federal and provincial lev­el, she maintained. The minister stated that the Election Commis­sion took this decision after con­sulting all of the stakeholders. There were reservations that be­cause of one man’s ego, elections were being forced on two prov­inces, she said. If elections in two provinces were held on April 30, it would have created a contro­versy for forever as the terms of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies would have ended six months before National Assem­bly and other two provincial as­semblies. The process of the cen­sus is going on in the country and it was not possible to hold elec­tions in two provinces before the census and in other provinces af­ter the census. Castigating Im­ran Khan, she said the Constitu­tion cannot act on the whims of one person who could violate it anytime, dissolve the assembly whenever he wants. She said Im­ran Khan instigated his follow­ers to injure the law enforcement agencies personnel, attack the ECP and storm the court premis­es. She said one person could not dictate when the election should be held, and when the decisions should be made. Also, Marriyum Aurangzeb while berating Paki­stan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan said that the Consti­tution and law of the country can­not follow “the will of a devil”.

In a tweet, she said he (Im­ran) could not be allowed to vi­olate the Constitution or to dis­solve the assemblies whenever he wanted, and attack the police­men as well. She went on to say Imran could not be allowed to attack the Election Commission of Pakistan or attack the courts whenever he wanted. Elections could not be held as per his whims, and the court verdicts could not be given as per his wishes, she maintained. Mean­while, Punjab Caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi Thurs­day said the Punjab government had nothing to do with the post­ponement of elections in Punjab as the decision was made by the Election Commission in consul­tation with the institutions. The decision must have been made after giving it a serious consider­ation and due deliberations”, he said while talking with the me­dia representatives after paying a visit to the Mazar-i-Iqbal (R.A) on the eve of Pakistan Day. He said that Punjab government did not make any interference in the matter of election date as mul­tiple institutions have a role to play regarding ascertaining the date of elections. Talking about Imran Khan’s murder allegations against the Punjab IG and others, Mohsin Naqvi said it had been decided to constitute a commis­sion to probe the accusations be­ing levelled on the police. “Imran Khan is a leader of a big politi­cal party; he has levelled an alle­gation and action should be un­dertaken after investigation”, he said. Mohsin Naqvi remarked that he did not have to contest an election nor do politics but will definitely have to do work for public welfare and betterment.

Article source: https://www.nation.com.pk/24-Mar-2023/any-unwise-decision-to-spread-anarchy-says-sana-as-poll-controversy-grows