Govt directs finance, law ministries to prepare summary ‘seeking parliamentary guidance’ for release of Punjab poll funds
The federal cabinet on Sunday directed Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar to prepare a summary seeking guidance from parliament to release funds for the Punjab elections.
Last week, the Supreme Court (SC) had fixed May 14 as the date for the polls in the province and directed the federal government to release election funds worth Rs21 billion to the Election Commission of Pakistan by April 10 for elections to the assemblies of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
According to a handout issued by the Prime Minister’s Office today, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, PM Shehbaz Sharif chaired a federal cabinet meeting today in Islamabad, which lasted over two hours, via video link from Lahore.
It added that participants of the meeting pondered over the “4-3” decision of Supreme Court judges in February’s suo motu proceedings of delay in Punjab and KP polls, along with the resolution passed in the National Assembly on April 6 rejecting the apex court’s judgement in the Punjab polls case.
The handout added that the law minister briefed the participants of the meeting on various constitutional and legal affairs apart from answering their questions.
It highlighted that the directions given to the finance and law ministers were deliberated upon during the meeting thoroughly.
The handout stated the federal cabinet decided to hold the next meeting on April 10 (Monday) to finalise its future strategy during which the summary from the law and finance ministries will also be presented.
Prior to the meeting, a PML-N insider had told Dawn that the release of funds for Punjab elections, President Dr Arif Alvi’s decision to return the Supreme Court Bill, and Justice Athar Minallah’s dissenting note in the elections case — which PML-N sees grossly in favour of its stance — would come under discussion during the meeting.
He had said the Sharifs were in the complete mood to defy the CJP-led three-member bench’s decision to hold elections and there was no secret in it.
The insider had added that the party was also unanimous on this point, further saying that in Sunday’s meeting, the premier and cabinet would declare that there were no funds for the May 14 elections.
“And let’s see what action the SC takes on Monday … we don’t care,” he had said and added that PML-N was desperately looking for a narrative and this defiance would help it build one with which it can go into polls.
“Further legislation by parliament to clip the apex court’s powers may also be discussed in the meeting,” he had said.
Paucity of funds
On April 3, amid the Supreme Court’s questions over fiscal constraints in holding elections for two provincial assemblies, the Ministry of Finance had notified that “no authority” could make or incur or commit any expenditure or create a liability against the Federal Consolidated Fund or Public Account of the federation unless it was properly authorised in the budget through a fiscal and parliamentary process.
Last month, informed sources had told Dawn that officials of the Finance Division, in a meeting with Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, continued their mantra of the paucity of funds and a financial crunch.
Sources had said that around Rs20bn was required for the upcoming polls in Punjab and KP, but their availability was in doubt, and only about Rs5bn had so far been released. They had said Rs65bn would be required for general elections in the country.
During the meeting, the finance secretary had said the country was faced with an unprecedented economic crisis and it was under an IMF programme, which has set strict targets for maintaining fiscal discipline and deficit.