Daily Times

Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial said that the Supreme Court cannot compel the government to engage in negotiations with the opposition during the hearing of the election delay case.

The court had previously requested that political parties undertake discussions and reply by April 27 in order to maintain the validity of the May 14 election schedule.

However, no discussions took place, and the government defied the April 4 decree. The opposition and the government were to meet on April 26 according to information provided to the court by Pakistan’s attorney general Mansoor Usman Awan, but PTI’s Asad Qaiser claimed he was not in a position to decide whether or not to hold talks.

Justice Bandial highlighted that Sanjarani, the Senate Chairman, was neither the representative of the government nor the opposition and that the court could only ensure the implementation of the Constitution to find a way out of the current crisis.

“The court can’t force the government into negotiations,” the top judge remarked, stressing that the court only wanted implementation of the Constitution so that a way could be found out of the current crisis.

“We don’t need any explanations, tell us a solution,” he said, highlighting that it would take Sanjarani’s committee time to initiate the talks.

At that point, PPP attorney Farooq H. Naek stated that the Senate was the sole venue where all the major parties were present and that the coalition parties had all agreed to hold negotiations with the PTI.

A number of politicians and attorneys were present before the hearing today, including Shah Mahmood Qureshi of the PTI, Azam Nazir Tarar, the law minister, Mian Aslam Iqbal of the JUI-F, and Mansoor Usman Awan, the attorney general of Pakistan (AGP).

The court ends the session later and declares that a proper ruling will be made.