SC wants plea maintainability addressed ; Senate polls

[ghazi52]

Senate polls: CJ disappointed over PPP, PML-N going back on open ballot agreement


ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed on Thursday expressed disappointment over the PPP and the PML-N reneging on an agreement signed by two parties-- The Charter of Democracy-- to do away with secret balloting , according to Geo News.

A five-member larger bench headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed and comprising Justice Mushir Alam, Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan and Justice Yahya Afridi was hearing the presidential reference seeking an opinion on open balloting for the upcoming Senate elections.

During the hearing, the Advocate General of Punjab Ahmad Awais agreed with Attorney-General for Pakistan Khalid Jawed Khan's point of view that parliamentarians were bound by their party's code of discipline and in case of any violation, action can be taken against them.

Responding to a query of the chief justice, the advocate general said a lawmaker can be disqualified for either buying or selling votes but not for voting against the party's policy.
After the Punjab advocate general had concluded his arguments, the Advocate General of Sindh Sultan Talib ud Din presented his arguments, stating that everyone has heard about horse-trading but no one has ever produced any evidence to back it up.

"The court should steer clear of questions of a political nature," he said, adding that the Election Commission of Pakistan should instead be allowed to fulfil its responsibilities.

"The Supreme Court can only answer questions that are raised," said the Attorney General of Sindh, adding that it has an "advisory" role.

At this, the chief justice responded by saying that the Constitution is a political document and when the court interprets it, then it is carrying out a political task.

The Advocate General for Sindh said that there is no proof that introducing open balloting would eliminate horse-trading.

"We can not say whether open balloting will eliminate horse-trading but it is disappointing that the PPP and the PML-N have gone back on their earlier agreement," responded the chief justice.

"Both parties agreed to bring an end to the secret balloting method in the Charter of Democracy but now they are not implementing it," Justice Gulzar Ahmed said.

At this, the Attorney General of Sindh said that without amending Article 226, the wishes of the federal government cannot be fulfilled.

The advocate generals of Islamabad, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab all supported the arguments presented by the Attorney-General for Pakistan.

Justice Gulzar Ahmed said that Article 63-A does not apply to the Senate elections whereas Article 59 does not mention secret balloting.

The hearing was postponed till Friday.

 

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SC adjourns reference seeking opinion on Senate election till Monday

The Frontier Post /
February 19, 2021


ISLAMABAD (APP): The Supreme Court on Friday adjourned hearing of the presidential reference seeking an opinion on open balloting for the upcoming Senate elections till Monday.

A five-member SC larger bench comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Mushir Alam, Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Yahya Afridi heard the reference.
During the course of proceedings, the counsel for the Election Commission submitted a copy of the code of conduct for voters.

Pakistan Peoples Party Senator Raza Rabbani, while starting arguments in his personal capacity, said the main purpose of Senate’s creation was federalism. Founder of Pakistan Qauid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah had also raised the point of federalism in his 14-points, he added.

He said smaller political parties with four provincial seats were also represented in the Senate. The idea of a single transferable vote was introduced to give smaller political parties a chance to have their opinion in the federation, he added.


He said a party having three or four members in the Balochistan Assembly had two senators. “We have to keep in mind the composition and purpose of the Senate,” he added.

He said majority of the people was represented in the National Assembly, and the Federation of Pakistan in the Senate. It could be seen in the House of Lords and the House of Commons (of Britain). The House of Commons had public representation, he added.

He said the court must look for a solution to the problem in the Constitution.

A bill, he said, could be rejected by the Senate after it was passed by the National Assembly. The Senate had to decide on the bill within 90 days.

He said the purpose of the Senate was to ensure equal representation of all the provinces. In a parliamentary system, the two Houses of Parliament were never run by consensus, he added.

He said it was not mandatory that a party, who formed a government in the federation, also had a majority in the provinces.

He said a coalition of opposition parties could also change the proportion of seats in the Senate. “I will give detailed arguments on the point of proportional representation,” he added.

Justice Ijaz said proportional representation was mentioned in Articles 51 and 59 of the Constitution. Even the alliance of political parties did not make a difference on proportional representation. If a party wanted to make a coalition, it should do openly, he added.


Raza Rabbani said the court’s interpretation regarding proportional representation would be ideal, but not on political issues.

He said as there was an alliance between the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and the Pakistan Mislim League-Q in Punjab, the former had given a seat to the later in the Senate election.

Justice Ijaz said the representation of a political party in the Senate should be proportional to the province.
Justice Bandial said many times the political parties of one province also made adjustments with those of other provinces.

He asked as to why it was important to keep secret even if there was an inter-provincial alliance?

Raza Rabbani replied that there was a difference between horse-trading and forging a political alliance. Political alliances were usually secret. Horse-trading could happen if an individual wanted to become a member of the Senate, he added.

“We have to understand the minds of legislators, the proportional representation of political parties is in the minds of legislators, there are three different systems under the system of proportional representation,” he said. “Each article deals with a separate system, where party representation is referred to as a single transferable vote, and a single transferable vote is entitled to mainstream representation.”

He said the president asked the question in the reference as whether secret ballot applied to the Senate. The government had given the impression that the case fell under the jurisdiction of Article 184/3.