EDITORIAL: Whatever the nuts and bolts of the Second Amendment Bill to the Election Act 2024 – it does not matter – the gist is that the government is not going to waste any time in doing whatever it can to resist the Supreme Court’s July 12 ruling about reserved seats that made PTI the largest party in the house.

Some wondered what PML-N would pull out of the hat once its review petition was put off till after the court’s annual vacations and its decision to ban PTI did not sit too well with its own coalition partners.

And this is clearly the answer; introduction of a bill by a private member to legislate an amendment in the election laws that would undo the effect of the Supreme Court judgement.

The government claims the amendment seeks to plug a loophole in the constitution by not allowing independent candidates to join parties “after the stipulated time” and preventing parties from getting reserved seats if they don’t submit their lists “in time”, etc., ought to answer one very important question.

What about the popular vote?

It is also noteworthy that the proposed amendment has a declaration that the provisions of the amendment would take precedence over court orders, including the Supreme Court’s. What the government considers necessary legislation is being seen by many as blatantly lighting the fuse on the powder keg that the deepening executive-judiciary cleavage has become.

There is no ambiguity about the function and power of the legislature to frame laws but equally unambiguous is the function and power of the judiciary to interpret the laws enacted by the legislature. Such is the scheme of the constitution under the principle of separation of powers.

There is little doubt that if an amendment in law is enacted to nullify the judgement of the apex court, it would be challenged and struck down. There is, therefore, an urgent need for all parties, especially the executive that includes the establishment, to step back and reassess this situation.

The SC judgement was supposed to be the end of this matter, yet we’re farther from settling the dust from the Feb 8 election than at any point since. In fact, the stakes have consistently risen and now another confrontation between two premier state institutions is inevitable just when political instability is the last thing the country needs as it desperately negotiates a bailout programme and tries to lure foreign investment.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024