ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed has dampened the opposition’s hopes, saying that no one can stop the government from promulgating the ordinance.
He expressed his views while hearing the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam’s (JUI-F) petition filed against the Election Amendment Ordinance that seeks to conduct the forthcoming Senate elections through open voting.
At the onset of the hearing, JUI-F’s counsel Kamran Murtaza argued that the government did not respect the court proceedings and promulgated an ordinance over a matter that was sub judice. He requested the court to look into the matter.
The CJP said, “I think the government entered the domain of speculations. I don’t know how they did it. No one can stop them,” adding, “If we hold that the Senate elections is under the Constitution, then the ordinance will die down.”
During the hearing, Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan questioned how the ordinance was a preemptive attempt at legislation, adding that if anyone who has an objection with it can approach the high court.
In this regard, Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Khalid Javed Khan said that the ordinance was not preemptive but also a conditional legislation.
On Saturday, President Dr Arif Alvi signed off the ordinance as the government still awaited the SC’s opinion on whether open balloting could take place without a constitutional amendment.
