Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also called for formation of a full bench of Supreme Court to hear the case related to the Punjab CM’s election.
The full court bench, he stressed, was important to avoid any “controversial and partial” verdict in the case. Only three judges could not decide the nation’s destiny.
“When all judges will hear the case, no one will have any objection to the decision,” he said, pointing out,“All institutions need to work within their own ambit.”
The verdict by a three-member bench would give an impression that the institutions were “not neutral”, he added.
Bilawal mentioned that his party had a long history of struggle for upholding democracy in the country and had rendered immense sacrifices.
“We want the country to be run in accordance with the Constitution,” he said, criticizing the last PTI government for wreaking havoc on the economy and de-stabilizing the country during its four years tenure.
Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Osama Qadri expressed the hope that the Supreme Court would constitute a full bench to hear the Punjab CM’s election matter. The honourable institutions should respect the wishes of citizens.
He said there was no harm in establishing a full bench. It was the public demand and the honorable judiciary should consider it. It was also the constitutional right of political parties to request the apex court that the important matter should be heard by its all honourable judges.
Osama Qadri said all the political parties were united on major political issues in the country. “We want supremacy of the law and strengthening of democratic institutions. We are against any unconstitutional move, considering it against the people’s wishes.”
PML-Q leader and Minister for Food Security Tariq Bashir Cheema said the demand for setting up a full court bench of the SC by the government’s allied parties was genuine and there was nothing wrong in it.
The three judges currently hearing the matter would also be the part of full court, whose decision would help address the issues being confronted by the country, he added.
Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) leader and Minister for Narcotics Control Shah Zain Bugti also endorsed the demand for formation of a full court bench, terming it need of the hour to avoid any controversy at the critical juncture.
Awami National Party (ANP) leader Aimal Wali Khan said all the state institutions should work under the ambit Constitution, as, otherwise, it would create chaos in the country.
He said it were the political leadership, which had given the Constitution to the country that united the nation. There was no point in sitting together by ‘all the parties’ to save the country if the decisions regarding the nation’s fate were made elsewhere, he opined.
“If a party president has no power then there is no use of his position and the parliamentary leader should be given his powers,” he said, adding, “The parliamentary leader is answerable to the party president.”
Aimal said, “The time has come to save the country and its economy.” If constitutional violators were left unpunished then the country could lead towards anarchy, he added.
The ANP leader said, “I want to request through this platform that if anything happens to this government then its leadership should be allowed to decide their future course. We will have to hold the PTI chairman accountable if we want to save the country.”
Regarding the news about the SC decision barring the political parties’ leaders from entering its premises, Muhammad Aslam Bhootani, an independent Member of the National Assembly (MNA) from Balochistan, , said, “We should all go there and confirm the veracity of the order.”
Balochistan National Party (Mengal) MNA Agha Hassan Baloch said it was regrettable to ban the entry of political leaders and workers to hear the court proceedings.
Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) Parliamentary Leader Khalid Hussain Magsi suggested that all stakeholders should call a grand jirga to decide the country’s future as “we have failed to put Pakistan on the right track”.
He said the Punjab CM’s election had caused uncertainty in Pakistan. “The country seems to be working like a tribal system.”
National Democratic Movement Chairman and MNA Mohsin Dawar said a country could not function without the supremacy of law. The only binding document, he added, was the Constitution that had kept the entire nation unified.
“If we will not uphold the Constitution supreme then it may create chaos,” he said.
During the course of the press conference, the information minister announced that the SC bench had issued a directive to ban entry of the coalition leaders participating in the media talk.