Bilawal Bhutto says Supreme Court committed ‘contempt of Parliament’

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Wednesday accused the Supreme Court (SC) of committing ‘contempt of Parliament’ by ‘undermining the decisions of the House”, ARY News reported.

Speaking at the National Assembly (NA) floor, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman reiterated that funds for holding elections in Punjab could not be released to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) without the Parliament’s permission.

Bilawal Bhutto said that the decisions of the Parliament could not be ignored. “If the Parliament allows releasing of funds, we have no objection.”

The Executive, he said, was bound to follow the decisions of the Parliament. “It is against the basic principle of the democracy and the Constitution. The Parliament has the authority to decide how public money can be spent and where it is spent.”

He said it was unfortunate that some elements were committing ‘contempt of the Parliament’. “We are bound by the Parliament as it is a supreme forum to decide about the spending of the public money.”

He said no one could be allowed to breach the Parliament’s privilege and urged the NA Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf to refer the matter to the privilege committee.

“Insulting of the prime minister is the insult of the members of the National Assembly. No institution will be allowed to disrespect of the country’s prime minister,” he added.

The resolution passed by the National Assembly unanimously indicated its members were with the prime minister, the foreign minister said.

He also said despite the court’s order, the then Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government had not held local government elections in the Punjab province. “The PPP would never violate the Constitution, as its sole objective was to unite the federating units and safeguards the rights of people”, he added.

The minister said the constitution guaranteed the supremacy of the Parliament and ensure the respect of institutions. “Why the court had not ordered holding of elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa”, he asked.

It is pertinent to mention here the Supreme Court (SC) declared the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) March 22 order on Punjab elections null and void.

A three-member bench — comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar — announced the reserved verdict on the PTI’s petition challenging the Election Commission of Pakistan’s order postponing the elections in Punjab and KP.

The Supreme Court declared the ECP’s order postponing the provincial assembly elections until October 8 as “unconstitutional” and ordered the government to release Rs21 billion funds for elections in Punjab by April 10.

The top court directed to conduct Punjab polls on May 14. The SC further directed the caretaker government in Punjab to assist the commission. “The court will issue an appropriate order in case of non-provision of funds,” the verdict read.