[ad_1]
ISLAMABAD, May 6 (PTI) The ruling coalition is still not ready to vote ahead of the retirement of incumbent Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial despite opposition pressure to call early elections in Pakistan, media reported on Saturday.
The 64-year-old Chief Justice of Pakistan Bandiyar will retire on September 16 this year.
Justice Bandial is expected to be replaced by Qazi Faez Isa, the second-senior Supreme Court justice.
The ruling coalition has been preparing for elections anytime after September 16, The News quoted sources inside the ruling Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) as saying.
CJP Bandial is said to be close to Imran Khan, chairman of the Pakistan Justice Instigation (PTI) party and former prime minister. Therefore, the ruling coalition wants to postpone the election until after his retirement.
The sources also ruled out extending the parliamentary term, as some ruling coalition leaders have said in the past. “We’re not going beyond August 13,” the source said.
The current Congress will end its term on August 13, and it is said that exceeding this date will cause serious political damage to the ruling coalition.
The dissolution of the National Assembly could be done in July if the PDM and PTI continue to agree on an election date, but not in June anyway, the sources said.
The government is said to not be compromising on the budget, which it hopes will be submitted and approved by parliament within limits set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The budget, it is said, cannot be left to a caretaker government because the ruling coalition fears that the interim regime will not be able to deal with the IMF at a critical time when the country cannot afford to risk a default.
He dismissed the impression that a popular vote budget would be presented that would violate the terms of the IMF.
PTI also wants the budget not to violate any conditions set by the IMF.
“The budget for the next fiscal year must be designed wisely and in consultation with multilateral institutions,” PTI leader Hammad Azhar said in a tweet on Friday.
“It is imperative that Finance Minister Ishaq Dar stop playing economic games. He has done a lot of damage. The budget for the next fiscal year must be properly designed in consultation with multilateral institutions,” he tweeted.
The tweet showed that PTI, which is expected to form a government after the next general election, is concerned that if it deviates further from the IMF’s conditions, it will be extremely difficult for the next government to deal with an already fragile economy.
Regarding the talks between PDM and PTI, sources said that these two issues need to be resolved by them.
The first is the date of the election, and the second is a written agreement that both parties accept the outcome of the election, regardless of who wins or loses.
As for the election date, sources said it could be anytime after September 16.
He said the government has information that PTI wants to call early elections in order to amend the constitution to extend the retirement date of Supreme Court judges from 65 to 68.
The source said the aim was to continue working with the current chief justice of Pakistan and delay Justice Isa’s appointment to the CJP by three years. “We’re not going to let it happen,” the source told the news.
The Supreme Court has asked the government and PTI to sit together for talks. The Supreme Court has set May 14 as the election date in Punjab and the two sides should soon agree on a new date for postponing the polls in Punjab.
The main opposition PTI is determined to hold a vote in the provincial legislature, but the government is sticking to its stance of simultaneous national elections.
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
share now
[ad_2]
Source link