SC deadline: PM Shehbaz Sharif chairs huddle of ruling alliance

ISLAMABAD: As the Supreme Court’s deadline to the political parties to evolve a consensus on the date for holding simultaneous general elections in the country is expiring today, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday chaired a meeting of the ruling alliance to discuss negotiations with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

The meeting was attended by Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Maulana Fazlur, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui and other leaders.

Attorney general for Pakistan and federal ministers also attended the meeting.

The meeting was briefed by the legal team on the election fund case and the negotiations with opposition, say sources.

Meanwhile, PM Shehbaz Sharif has also summoned separate meetings of the federal cabinet and the PML-N parliamentary party today.

According to sources, the federal cabinet will mull over the political situation and the matters related to holding elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.

The cabinet will also mull over the issues that surfaced during the consultative process among the political parties, they say.

It is to be noted here that the government had assured the Supreme Court of holding talks with the opposition over elections in two provinces on April 26.

During SC’s last hearing on polls delay case, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had assured the Supreme Court that they will sit with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and try to find a solution on the election date.

A three-member bench of the top court — headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar — has sought a progress report on the talks by April 27.

The Supreme Court – in its April 4 order – declared Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision to postpone elections to the Punjab Assembly till October 8 “unconstitutional” and fixed May 14 as new date.

The National Assembly later passed a resolution rejecting the three-member Supreme Court bench’s verdict on the Punjab polls, stating that it would not provide funds to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for polls.