Nawaz Sharif wants early general election: Report
PML-N supremo has discussed it with senior party leaders, PDM suggesting that staying any longer will create more problems: Report; sources confirm that likely date and time of October, November has been discussed
Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif wants early general elections and has discussed with the senior party leadership the option of quiting the government in the Centre, said a report quoting credible sources.
Nawaz Sharif has discussed this several times with top leaders of the party including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and also with the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM).
He suggested that staying in the government any longer looked set to create more problems than resolving the issues in the absence of genuine support the government should have received from all state organs, said sources.
They said PDM leaders, including Asif Ali Zardari and Maulana Fazlur Rehman, have so far resisted the idea of quiting the government but the Supreme Court’s decision to make Pervez Elahi Punjab’s Chief Minister is highly likely to reinforce the idea.
Sources shared that Nawaz Sharif has told his party leaders that obstacles had been created for Shahbaz Sharif’s government from the very start, ater Imran Khan’s ouster in a vote of no-confidence, and staying in the government in the absence of powers could damage the party further.
These discussions have lingered on for several weeks but more so ater the disappointing results for the PML-N in Punjab’s by-elections and the decision by a three-member Supreme Court bench, led by Chief Justice Ata Bandial and Justices Ijaz-ul-ahsan and Muneeb Akhtar, to remove Hamza Shahbaz as Punjab’s chief minister.
It had thrown up a completely new scenario for the PML-N where it has power in the Centre but in Punjab, the batleground province, will be now ruled by Pervez Elahi with help from Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-insaf (PTI).
Sources confirmed that the likely date and time of October and November has been discussed at a great length and Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif and the government stakeholders are aware about the nature of these discussions.
These discussions, according to sources, have taken place between the government and the establishment figures as well but nothing was finalised.
The PML-N leadership, according to sources, toyed with the idea of holding early elections but stopped short of making a final decision in this regard, waiting for one event ater another to pass by to make further assessments and evaluate.
During the discussions that have taken place, senior party cadres have discussed that Nawaz Sharif and PML-N don’t have a level-playing field even though they are in power in the Centre and ruled Punjab in one way or the other for about three months till the elevation of Pervez Elahi.
The sources said that senior party leaders have discussed Nawaz Sharif’s return to Pakistan before the next general elections and a message has been conveyed to him that his presence in Pakistan was necessary.
Meanwhile, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz dubbed the Supreme Court decision on the Punjab chief minister’s election as a “judicial coup” and “murder of justice.”
In a tweet, she said the PML-N would not accept the judgment that made Chaudhry Pervez Elahi the chief minister in place of Hamza Shahbaz.
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif vowed that there would be no compromise on the supremacy of the constitution and parliament.
He said that the formation of the full court was crucial for the judiciary’s reputation as justice should not only be done but also seen to be done.
He said that the Constitution had delegated powers to parliament, executive and judiciary, adding that it had mandated all the institutions to work within their specified limits. “No institution can interfere with the authority of another.
“There will be no compromise on the supremacy of the Constitution and Parliament,” he tweeted.
Hamza Shahbaz also rejected the court decision, saying that the principle of neutrality was thrown out of the window by rejecting the request for the full bench.
He said that the continuation of the Panama decision - the judgment which led to Nawaz Sharif’s ouster from premiership - was no justice at all.
He said that “his politics was, is and will remain for service of the people and not for positions”, adding the decision was the next step towards winning and not losing.