Daily Times

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial on Thursday said the Supreme Court could not direct the political parties to hold dialogue on simultaneous general election of all national and provincial assemblies. The CJP expressed these views while heading a three-member bench comprising Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar, which heard the case regarding holding of simultaneous election of all assemblies across the country. During the course of proceedings, Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan informed the court that the first meeting between the coalition government and opposition parties was held on April 19 and it was decided that the next one would be held on April 26. He said Ayaz Sadiq and Khawaja Saad Rafiq met former National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser on April 25 where the latter stated that he was not authorized by the party to hold negotiations. He said the meetings of the coalition government parties were held yesterday and two of them had objections on the negotiations, but a way was found. The Senate chairman had written letters to the government and the opposition in the Upper House of the Parliament and sought four names each from the two sides, he added. The Chief Justice asked what efforts were made after Asad Qaiser who was not authorized to negotiate. The Attorney General said it was learned from the media on Tuesday that Shah Mehmood Qureshi was authorized by the PTI to negotiate. The Chief Justice said if the government were serious about negotiations, it would take steps itself.

The court could not force them to negotiate, and it only wanted to follow the Constitution so that the dispute could be resolved.

Advocate Farooq H Naek, counsel for the Pakistan Peoples Party, said all the coalition parties in the government were willing to negotiate with the PTI and the Senate was the only forum where all parties were represented.

He said the role of the Senate chairman was only to facilitate the negotiations between the committees of the political parties.

PTI leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the court had given an opportunity for political consensus on the insistence of the government. The leadership of all the political parties appeared in the court, but even today there was no consensus on the negotiations in the PDM (Pakistan Democratic Movement).

He said the PTI took the court order seriously. Though the Supreme Court’s decision of May 14 was final yet it had provided an opportunity to the political parties in the national interest. However, no contact had been made with the PTI.

The party had nominated him, Fawad Chaudhry and Ali Zafar for negotiations, Qureshi added.

After the completion of hearing of the case, the Chief Justice remarked that the court was neither issuing any directive nor issuing any timeline and would issue a written order in the case.