ISLAMABAD: Amid the ongoing judiciary-executive tussle on the issue of Punjab polls and demands from ruling coalition lawmakers, National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf on Wednesday wrote a letter to Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, conveying “profound concerns” of the elected representatives over recent Supreme Court orders and some comments by judges, terming them an “encroachment” on parliament’s domain.
Through the five-page letter, released to the media by Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, the speaker asked the apex court to “as far as possible, avoid getting involved in the political thicket”, saying that “it is best to leave the resolution of political matters by the parliament and the political parties”.
Mr Ashraf urged the CJP and Supreme Court judges “to exercise restraint and respect the legislative domain of the parliament”.
The speaker wrote that the National Assembly “strongly feels that these recent decisions amount to encroachment upon two core constitutional functions of the Assembly — lawmaking and power of the purse”.
He drew the CJP’s attention to various articles of the Constitution that vest powers related to a money bill exclusively in the National Assembly and confer power and authority to approve expenditure from the Federal Consolidated Fund (FCF) on the elected members.
“I write to convey the profound concern and deep unease of the NA with the orders passed by a 3-member SC bench on April 14 and 19 directing the State Bank of Pakistan and Finance Division to allocate/release Rs21 billion to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP)” as “these orders have been passed notwithstanding that such release has expressly been forbidden by the NA”, he said.
“It is sadly noted that the 3-member bench’s orders have completely disregarded the constitutional process and the prerogative of the Assembly with respect to financial matters,” Mr Ashraf said, adding that the Supreme Court has ignored the National Assembly resolution and the rejection of the bill seeking allocations for the election funds and the recommendation of the National Assembly finance committee in this regard.
The courts had the power to interpret the Constitution, but it did not include rewriting the Constitution or undermining the parliament’s sovereignty, the speaker said, apparently referring to the Supreme Court’s interpretation of Article 63-A at the time of the election of Punjab chief minister last year.
Referring to some of the reported remarks of the judges, the speaker said the rejection of the funds did not constitute a loss of confidence of the National Assembly in the federal government or the prime minister.
“I am also to convey to you the sense of the House that an unnecessary confrontation, deeply damaging to the national interest, is being created by the repeated orders to release funds to the ECP,” he said, adding: “The NA will approve the expenditure for the general elections to all the assemblies in the annual budget for the next financial year.
