Federal cabinet meeting for ‘future strategy’ called again on Monday

The meeting of the Federal Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif has been held on Sunday which lasted for about two hours.

The possibility was being shown that in this emergency meeting of the federal cabinet, in the light of the orders of the Supreme Court, a decision will be made regarding the release of funds to the Election Commission or other strategy regarding the elections in Punjab.

However, in a statement issued by the Ministry of Information on Sunday night, it has been said that in the meeting of the federal cabinet, it has been decided that the cabinet meeting will be called again on April 10, 2023 to decide on the ‘future strategy’.

This federal cabinet meeting was held in Lahore instead of Islamabad.

According to the statement of the Ministry of Information, in the meeting ‘four. The court order and the detailed decision of the four judges were considered while the resolution passed by the National Assembly on April 6, 2023 was also discussed in detail.

The statement further stated that ‘Law Minister Senator Azam Nazir Tarar briefed the meeting on various constitutional and legal issues and answered the questions of the cabinet members.’

In a statement released by the Ministry of Information, it has been said that ‘after careful consideration of all aspects and detailed consultation, the Cabinet unanimously directed the Finance Ministry to seek guidance from the Parliament in this matter in consultation with the Law Ministry. Prepare a summary according to the procedure and regulations and present it in the cabinet meeting tomorrow.

Earlier, Federal Information Minister Maryam Aurangzeb told Dawn newspaper that ‘important decisions’ are expected in Sunday’s meeting.

He added that ‘most of the cabinet members will participate in the meeting through video link.’

The Supreme Court of Pakistan, after hearing the petition of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf this week, ordered elections to be held in Punjab on May 14 and asked the federal government to release funds to the Election Commission in this regard.

The court had directed the federal government to release Rs 21 billion funds to the Election Commission by April 10 for the Punjab and KP assembly elections.

However, the government refused to accept the verdict and objected to the three judges on the judgment bench.

On the other hand, the Muslim League-N, which is part of the ruling coalition, also demanded the resignation of Supreme Court Chief Justice Umar Atta Bandial.

Speaking to Independent Urdu, PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry said that this decision is a victory for the Constitution of Pakistan, Imran Khan and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf. The Supreme Court of Pakistan buried the judicial doctrine of necessity.

The Election Commission of Pakistan had released the schedule for the elections of Punjab Assembly on May 14 after the decision of the Supreme Court. According to the notification, elections in Punjab will be held on May 14, while appeals in nomination papers can be filed till April 10.

The schedule said that the Appellate Tribunal would decide the appeals by April 17 and the revised list of candidates would be released on April 18.

According to the announcement, the last date for withdrawing the nomination papers will be April 19.

Apart from this, election symbols will be issued to the candidates on April 20.

Earlier, the Election Commission had announced on March 22 that the elections in Punjab would be held on October 8.