Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb. Photo courtesy PID
Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb on Friday demanded the resignation of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, saying he had become “controversial” and was no longer suitable for the position.
Addressing a press conference after Justice Athar Minallah issued an order backing the view that the suo motu on the delay in conducting polls in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab had been dismissed 4-3, she questioned how the public could be expected to accept a ruling that even the apex court’s own judges did not consider legitimate. “Justice Minallah neither separated nor rescued himself from the bench,” she said, citing the judge’s order. “It is not a matter of elections but an issue of ‘bench fixing’,” she clarified, maintaining that the parties in the ruling coalition had no concerns about proceeding to polls as a result of impartial proceedings.
“Justice Minallah’s note is a question mark,” she said, stressing that it was not acceptable for the government for the judiciary to facilitate an individual who had breached the Constitution—a likely reference to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and his attempt to avoid a vote of no-confidence last year.
Criticizing the three-member bench that directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to conduct polls in Punjab on May 14, Aurangzeb noted that PTI leader Asad Umar had been allowed to speak during proceedings, but the court had refused to listen to the 13 other political parties. “You [Supreme Court] are interfering in the powers of Parliament,” she said of the SC’s verdict, adding that Parliament, and not Imran Khan, would decide on when to hold elections.
Maintaining that the apex court had previously “rewritten” Article 63A of the Constitution—a three-member bench had stated that votes cast by dissidents could not be counted—to facilitate ‘ladla’ [Imran Khan], she lamented that “controversial judges” had been included in the three-member bench. Emphasizing that no political party evades elections, she maintained that polls should take place upon the completion of constitutional tenure of the assemblies and at the same time nationwide.
Separately, PMLN leaders Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz also called for the CJP’s resignation, with the latter saying Umar Ata Bandial’s “tilt toward the PTI is glaring.” Sharif, meanwhile, said it was better for the CJP to resign rather than unleashing more destruction. “The Chief Justice imposed a minority opinion on the majority decision,” he alleged.
Calls for the resignation of the CJP come amidst an ongoing impasse between the government and the Supreme Court over elections in Punjab. Earlier this week, the National Assembly passed a resolution rejecting the Supreme Court’s verdict, making it binding on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his cabinet to not implement the decision.