JUI challenges ordinance for open Senate vote in SC
President Dr. Arif Alvi signed the Election Amendment Ordinance 2021 on February 6.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam has challenged presidential ordinance for conducting elections of Senate through open ballot in Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP).
JUI in its plea, termed the presidential ordinance as irrational and unconstitutional and said that the ordinance was borne out of malicious intent.
The plea, while requesting the apex court to declare the ordinance null and void, argued that the step of government sabotages autonomy of Supreme Court of Pakistan and Parliament.
Earlier, President Dr. Arif Alvi signed the Election Amendment Ordinance 2021 to hold Senate elections through open ballot.
However, the newly issued ordinance has been made subject to the Supreme Court of Pakistan’s opinion on the Presidential Reference.
Under the ordinance, section 122 of the Election Act 2017 has been amended. The ordinance says that a party chief will be able to request to see the vote and the ECP will be bound to show the vote to the party chief or their representative.
On the other hand, Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) while terming the Election Amendment Ordinance 2021 as an attack on the constitution and parliament said that the government itself has created a constitutional crisis.
Addressing a press conference flanked by party leader and Senator Sherry Rehman in Karachi on Sunday, Senator Mian Raza Rabbani said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led (PTI) cabinet is playing with the country’s constitution, adding that the cabinet is blind and cannot read the constitution.
The PPP leader said that if elections are held under an ordinance and the ordinance is repealed, then the whole election will be annulled.
Rabbani said that the Election Commission has filed its reply in the Supreme Court, adding that the ECP has replied that the Senate and the National Assembly elections will be according to the constitution. The ECP had made it clear that the Senate elections through open ballot cannot be held unless there is a constitutional amendment and now the government has also put the Election Commission before the Supreme Court.
