Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar on Monday again made it clear to all and sundry that the general election 2018 will be held on the notified date and even a day’s delay would not be tolerated at any cost.

He said apparently there was no possibility of any delay in the upcoming general elections, unless the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) became helpless.

He was heading a three-member bench comprising Justice Sardar Tariq Masood and Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Minakhel, which was hearing a matter pertaining to the electoral amendments, filed by the Workers Party.

An official of the ECP told the court that they had prepared a new code of conduct for the forthcoming elections in view of the apex court directives. Earlier, the apex court had directed the ECP to conduct impartial and transparent elections.

He said that after the Election Reforms Act, the code of conduct was reviewed and a new code was prepared for the general election scheduled for July 25.

The counsel for the petitioner stated that the code of conduct was prepared in 2017. He said in the case of Workers Party, the Supreme Court had observed that the ECP would have unlimited powers.

The chief justice then asked him to take out from his mind that the election would be delayed for two or three months, adding the elections would be held on time. The ECP official stated that all political parties had participated in the preparation of code of conduct.

The chief justice noted that the code of conduct could not be changed. He said that the apex court in 2012 had delivered a judgement on the election reforms in which it had determined the powers of the ECP.

However, the counsel for the petitioner contended, “If the ECP considers itself powerful the issue of nomination papers will not have arisen.” He added that required information could not be collected due to the new forms and if the old nomination forms were restored then contenders would have excuse that they didn’t have complete information, ergo the elections would be delayed.

During the proceedings, Dr Zubair appeared before the court and stated that candidates/elected representatives should declare all details, including their assets.

The chief justice said that they believed in the supremacy of the constitution, therefore suspended the Lahore High Court verdict on the matter of nomination paper.

The CJP hinted at formation of a larger bench to further deliberate on the matter and adjourned further hearing till tomorrow (Wednesday) to consider the old clauses of the nomination papers.

Published in Daily Times, June 5th 2018.