World News | Pak Speaker to Write a Letter to Chief Justice on Issue Related to Elections
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. Pakistan's speaker of the National Assembly announced on Wednesday to write a letter to the Chief Justice to convey the sentiments of the house about elections.
Islamabad, Apr 26 (PTI) Pakistan's speaker of the National Assembly announced on Wednesday to write a letter to the Chief Justice to convey the sentiments of the house about elections.
Raja Pervaiz Ashraf announced to address the communication to Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial after several lawmakers demanded that elections should be held on the same day in the county for provincial and national assembly seats.
They also rejected the Supreme Court's judgment of April 4 that election for the Punjab assembly should be held on May 14, while some angry parliamentarians also criticized the top court for trying to dictate the parliament and demanded action against the judges.
“I will try to write a letter today to convey the sense of the house,” Ashraf said without providing any details about the letter he announced to write.
The decision to write the letter comes a day ahead of a three-member bench of the court which will take up the issue of holding elections in Punjab, including the implementation of its order to provide Rs21 billion for elections.
Separately, a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office said the cabinet had approved that the matter for the release of Rs 21 billion should be taken to parliament for a second time. The National Assembly earlier rejected the bill seeking the funds for elections.
The issue of elections in Punjab has pitted the top court and the government against each other as the former is pushing to hold elections on time while the government is trying to delay it for a few months.
The government says that elections should be held on the same day in the entire country for all provincial and national assemblies. However, the court is not ready to delay the election in Punjab where the assembly was dissolved in January beyond a certain date.
The violation of the court orders may result in starting the contempt of court proceedings against the prime minister and his cabinet colleagues.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)