OPINION: Pakistan in constitutional crisis

At a time when Pakistan is facing economic, social and political disaster, a new challenge of constitutional crisis has popped up.

A three-member Supreme Court Bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justices Munib Akhtar and Ijazul Ahsan, in its order on April 4, declared the 22.03.2023 decision of Pakistan's Election Commission (ECP) to postpone the polls to Punjab Assembly till October 8 as "unconstitutional" and fixed May 14 as the date for the provincial polls.

This shows judicial activism has appeared once again in Pakistan. It was during the tenure of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry (2005-13) that judicial activism reached its zenith. In 2007, the military-backed government of Gen. Pervez Musharraf removed Chaudhry from his office. In the end, the Supreme Court ruled that his dismissal was unconstitutional. This judgment was perceived as a triumph for judicial activism and a setback for military rule.

The recent direction to ECP was on the PTI's petition, moved by its secretary-general Asad Umar, former Punjab Assembly Speaker Mohammad Sibtain Khan, former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani and ex-lawmakers of Punjab Abdul Rehman and Mian Mahmoodur Rashid. They had pleaded that the ECP's decision was a violation of the Constitution that was tantamount to amending and subverting it.

The recent categorical direction of the Supreme Court to the Election Commission has obviously pinched Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif heading the coalition government of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM). Sharif has been expecting more political crises ahead. He has not forgotten that it was due to judicial activism that his elder brother and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was removed from his position on charges of corruption by the Supreme Court in 2017.

Reacting to the Supreme Court verdict on the election to Punjab, the PDM apprehends the further aggravation of the political crisis. Law Minister Azam Nazir Tartar has lamented the ruling and said the SC should have made a decision with "collective wisdom". "The full court should have heard the case," he opined.

In fact, the verdict has now put mainly PML-N and rival political party PTI on a new battlefield. PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif from London has been blaming the apex court for all of the country's troubles post-2017 while PTI chief Imran Khan has been accusing his rival party of "threatening" the Supreme Court. The unending provocative statements from both political parties have pushed their supporters to 'come out' and 'take a stand' in their favour, to watch clashes on the streets.

If Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is to be believed, he has dropped a brick of imposition of martial law or an emergency-like situation. Bilawal demanded a larger Bench to settle the election issue in the light of the judgment of a three-member Bench headed by the Chief Justice of Pakistan. However, he maintained that the decision of all the judges would be acceptable to the coalition government.

No political party has any credible plan to rescue the economy. Now that all roads are blocked, formulating one is impossible. This did not happen suddenly. Those at the top were forewarned years earlier of impending collapse but chose to look the other way.

(R C Ganjoo is a senior journalist and columnist having more than 30 years experience of covering issues concerning national security, particularly Kashmir. He has worked with several prominent media groups and his articles have been published in many national and international publications.)

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