An appeal to the Supreme Court to annul Pakistan’s national elections held on February 8 has been rejected. According to Dawn, this petition was filed in the Supreme Court by a former army officer named Ali Khan. Meanwhile, Asif Ali Zardari became the President as part of the government formation agreement between PML-N and PPP. Shahbaz Sharif is the Prime Minister.
The petition in the Supreme Court requested the court to cancel the previous elections and order fresh elections within 30 days under the direct supervision of the judiciary to ensure impartiality, transparency and accountability. The application also asked to stop the formation of the new government until a decision is taken on this matter. The application was heard in the Supreme Court for two consecutive days. However, petitioner Ali Khan was not present in either of the two hearings. The Supreme Court dismissed the petition mainly due to his absence. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on the petitioner.
During the hearing, Additional Attorney General of Pakistan told the court that Ali is a former Brig. A notice was sent to his home through the Ministry of Defence. The police also went to his house. But he wasn’t. The attorney also said that the court notice was also delivered to the door of Ali’s house. Later read an email sent by Chief Justice Ali Khan. In that email, Ali stated that he was abroad and requested to withdraw the application. He also said that he could not appear in the court because he was abroad. Ali Khan also attached his boarding pass, ticket and travel documents to Bahrain with the email.
Justice Faiz Issa said, ‘He is a strange applicant. He applied and went abroad the next day. Our branch (Fixation) confirmed that the email was sent by him (Ali Khan). He is a strange person. He booked a one-way ticket where people buy return tickets when they go abroad as air tickets are cheap . It seems that Ali Khan has done a publicity stunt by filing a petition in the Supreme Court.
Power sharing in Pakistan: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari announced the compromise at a joint press conference at Zardari House in Islamabad on Tuesday night. According to the agreement, the PPP shares: President, Senate Chairman, Governor of Punjab, Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Chief Minister of Balochistan and Deputy Speaker of National Assembly. In return, the PML-N will form the government at the Center and Punjab with the party’s support. Again, the PML-N’s vote will be needed for the PPP candidate to secure the post of Chief Minister of Balochistan. According to reports, PML-N is getting: the posts of Prime Minister, Chief Minister of Punjab, Speaker of National Assembly, Governor of Sindh and Governor of Balochistan.
