The government would decide on Monday whether to challenge the Supreme Court’s reserved seats decision, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said on Saturday.
“It will be decided in Parliament whether to challenge the Supreme Court’s decision or not. The government will consult its allies,” he told reporters in Sialkot on Saturday.
A day earlier, the apex court declared Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) eligible for seats reserved for women and minorities. The majority verdict was given by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Shahid Waheed, Justice Ayesha Malik, Justice Irfan Saadat, Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi, and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar.
Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said the SC granted relief to the PTI despite the fact that they had not filed a petition for reserved seats.
Parliament has the authority to amend the Constitution, Asif said and added that the judiciary cannot rewrite it.
His statement was in reference to the interpretation of the apex court’s decision. Some experts have believed that the court gave the decision out of the law, but PTI leader Ali Zafar believes Article 187 (Issue and Execution of Processes of Supreme Court) of the Constitution was used in the case.
The defence minister claimed that the reserved seats decision was unconstitutional and its political implications were evident. “The person who did not even demand justice has been granted justice.”
Asif noted that Pakistan’s judiciary ranks 134th in the world and if the ranking improves, it would increase the nation’s prestige. He reiterated that the government would continue to uphold the Constitution, and Parliament has the authority to rewrite the Constitution.
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“Responsibilities of all institutions are defined in the Constitution and Parliament will continue to be responsible for drafting the Constitution in the future,” he said.
He went on to criticise the nullification of the Peshawar High Court and ECP’s decisions, stating that such “unconstitutional actions” would impact the democratic system. He highlighted that both the ECP and Parliament are constitutional bodies and each institution must operate within its defined boundaries.
“This [reserved seats] decision has opened a ‘Pandora’s box’,” the defence minister said.
