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Govt to approach Supreme Court to seek clarity on Article 63(A): Fawad Chaudhry

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  • Fawad Chaudhry says SC will be requested to hear case daily.
  • PM Imran Khan says will take decisions to curb horse-trading.
  • He rules out “minus one”policy to save PTI govt.

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has decided to approach the Supreme Court for interpretation of Article 63-A as several PTI lawmakers have announced to vote on the no-trust motion, in a violation of the party policy, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said Friday.

The decision was taken during a consultative meeting of the PTI’s political committee held today with Prime Minister Imran Khan in the chair.

The meeting was convened to discuss the legal options available to act against the disgruntled lawmakers and counter the Opposition’s move to dislodge the government of Imran Khan.

It came to light Thursday that around 24 PTI MNAs were residing at the Sindh House in Islamabad — and some of them had publicly announced to go against the party.

Hours later, the prime minister called a meeting of the senior party leadership and directed National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser to approach the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) against the disgruntled members.

In a series of tweets today, Fawad Chaudhry said the government would file a petition under Article 186 of the Constitution to seek the interpretation of Article 63-A.

“… we will seek the Supreme Court’s interpretation as to what will be the standing of a party member’s vote who is found in violation of the party’s policy and is involved in horsetrading,” the federal minister said.

The information minister said the government would seek the apex court’s guidance on whether a person, who shifts loyalty for monetary benefit, should be ineligible for a lifetime for becoming a lawmaker or whether they could contest polls again and be elected to parliament.

“The Supreme Court will be requested to hear the case on a daily basis,” he said.

The prime minister, according to sources, assigned the responsibility for filing the reference in the apex court to PTI Additional Secretary Amir Mahmood Kiani and Adviser to Prime Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan.

“We will take such decisions that no one will be able to indulge in horsetrading next  time,” the prime minister told the participants.

The premier also directed the PTI leaders present in the meeting to ramp up the preparations for the March 27 rally — where the ruling party plans on gathering one million people, a day before the voting on the no-trust motion.

“All the lawmakers and party members should participate,” he said.

“No matter how much money they spend to remove me, I will fight them,” he said.

‘Will not impose governor’s rule in Sindh’

Moreover, the prime minister, according to sources, decided against taking extreme measures and announced that the federal government will not impose the governor’s rule in Sindh.

‘We will not impose governor’s rule in Sindh,” he said.

Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed had a day earlier proposed the premier take the step in order to stop “horsetrading” taking place at the Sindh House.

During the meeting, the majority of the participants opposed the move after the interior minister presented a summary in this regard.

“Only two federal ministers backed the idea,” sources said.

The PM, however, directed to deliberate further on the issue, saying the situation will deteriorate further by imposing the governor’s rule.

‘No minus one’

PM Imran Khan also said that some people were talking about a “minus one” policy.

“This cannot happen in any scenario.”

“Fortunately, they are requesting […] this will boost our morale,” he said, after MQM-P and PML-Q proposed a “minus Imran Khan” formula in a bid to save the PTI-led government.

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LHC requests report on dangers to PTI founder’s life

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The Punjab Advocate General’s report about threats to the life of PTI founder Imran Khan while he was incarcerated was requested by the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday.

Chief Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmed Khan of the LHC Court made the order while considering a request for the PTI founder’s security in jail made by President Afzal Azim of the Tehreek-e-Insaf Lawyers Forum.

Advocate Afzal requested that the court impose severe security measures on the PTI founder, arguing that the jail authorities had prohibited their meeting with him due to security concerns.

Advocate General Khalid Ishaq questioned the application’s maintainability as soon as the proceedings began. He stated that since it was the Punjab government’s responsibility to safeguard him, he would request a report on security concerns.

We cannot afford any more significant mishaps, Chief Justice Khan said. While Benazir Bhutto and Liaquat Ali Khan were slain, the founder of the PTI managed to elude a murderous attempt on his life.

He gave the counsel general instructions to find out how concerned the PTI founder is about security.

The plea can be heard in the Rawalpindi bench, not in the primary seat, the advocate general objected.

The hearing was postponed till April 3 by Chief Justice Khan, who instructed Attorney Afzal to present his petition on the following date.

Recall that on Thursday, Advocate Afzal petitioned the court to order the Punjab Home Department and the federal government to give the PTI founder greater security.

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“Nawaz Sharif Kisan Card” for farmers gets approved by CM Punjab

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At a meeting on agricultural reforms, Punjab’s Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz presided over the approval of the “Nawaz Sharif Kisan Card” for farmers.

Farmers would receive a variety of subsidies through the Kisan Card scheme, and 500,000 small farmers in Punjab will be eligible for loans totaling Rs 150 billion over the course of a year. Each farmer will receive Rs 30,000 for every acre of land used for agriculture.

CM Maryam Nawaz announced during the meeting that a model agriculture center will be constructed in each district of the province with the assistance of the commercial sector, enabling farmers to discard phony fertilizers and medications.

The establishment of a cutting-edge center of excellence for research development on cotton, wheat, and rice crops was approved during the conference, and the Agriculture Department was instructed to gather comprehensive data on the production and demand of each crop.

Participants in the conference decided to link the research center with local universities and to give the board authority over administrative matters.

It was also decided to construct a research and development center at Agricultural University Faisalabad with Chinese participation, at a cost of Rs 2 billion.

In addition, it was decided to hire 500 agricultural graduates, update the Punjab Seed Corporation and Punjab Agricultural Research Board’s organizational structures, provide a bill that forbids the use of agricultural land for residential purposes, and outfit the Agricultural Extension Wing with cutting-edge machinery.

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Khalid Maqbool calls the ‘non-local’ police that were placed in Karachi ‘injustice’.

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Dr. Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, the convener of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), described the imposition of “non-local” police and administration on the port city as an injustice for the people, as reported by The News on Friday.

During a labor wing of the party-organized iftar dinner in North Nazimabad, the politician claimed that Karachi had non-local police, calling this an injustice to the city’s residents.

Siddiqui questioned why the province’s capital city had a non-local police force, pointing out that other major centers in Sindh had their own citizens working in state and federal organizations.

We are going through numerous political phases as a country, and we are forced to use non-local administration and law enforcement. However, the MQM-P has once again reclaimed from the non-locals the mandate of the province’s metropolitan districts,” Siddiqui stated.

Siddiqui claimed that “ghair maqami,” or non-local, bandits were killing young people in Karachi through street violence, citing the city’s growing number of youth fatalities from such incidents.

“Young people in the city are being brutally murdered by out-of-town bandits during Ramadan,” the MQM-P leader claimed.

He went on to say that Sindh’s “racist” administration had been given free rein and that although his party had been silent throughout Ramadan, it will now speak out about the deaths of young people in the city at the hands of outside bandits.

Siddiqui emphasized that if it took going to the streets to defend women’s honor, the MQM-P would not think twice about making any sacrifice. The ad hoc organizing committee of the party was also present at the occasion.

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