Pakistan People’s Party Chairman and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who earlier reached Islamabad along with party co-chairman and former president Asif Ali Zardari, has summoned the leadership of the party to discuss the ‘next plan of action’ following the Supreme Court’s verdict on elections in Punjab on May 14.
According to a private media channel, the PPP leadership will consider convening a central executive committee or core committee meeting of the party to map out the next action plan.
Earlier, the coalition partners proposed to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to file a reference against the chief justice of Pakistan and two other Supreme Court judges, Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Ijazul Ahsan, who delivered the verdict to hold Punjab polls on May 14.
The coalition parties also expressed their frustration over the delay by the president in signing the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023, passed by both houses of the parliament, to limit the chief justice’s suo moto powers of office.
SC verdict
Earlier, the Supreme Court nullified the March 22 order of the Election Commission of Pakistan postponing the Punjab elections.
The Supreme Court ruled that the ECP’s decision to postpone provincial assembly elections till October 8 was “unconstitutional” and ordered the government to release Rs21 billion for Punjab polls by April 10.
