Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has directed his party to gear up for the upcoming elections.
Bilawal, who is in Lahore for two days, will hold consultative meetings with the party leaders in the wake of the apex court ruling regarding polls in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Matters related to electoral preparations will come under discussion during the meeting.
The PPP chairman said that the tickets would be awarded to the candidates on the basis of their performance, adding that the party's parliamentary board would make the final decision in this regard.
He also gave instructions for candidates for seats in the national and provincial assemblies to finish their paperwork within a week.
Bilawal's directives for his party to commence an electoral campaign emerged soon after the Supreme Court’s order to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to consult President Dr Arif Alvi to set a date for general elections in Punjab.
On elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the verdict orders the governor to announce a date for the elections after consulting the ECP.
On the other hand, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has not demonstrated any haste in finishing its election preparations.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC) ordered that elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa must take place within the next 90 days.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail dissented from the majority’s decision, leaving the judgement split 3-2. The decision was endorsed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Munib Akhtar, and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar.
The dissenting note argued that the suo motu was unmaintainable.
The five-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial concluded the two-day-long proceedings in the suo motu case on Tuesday. Concluding the hearing, the bench reserved the verdict and said it would be announced before 11am Wednesday (today).
On Tuesday, CJP Bandial declared that they were there to protect the Constitution, not any particular party. He remarked, "We cannot abandon the Constitution, and we cannot override the Constitution."
When the Punjab and K-P provinces were dissolved earlier this year, the chief justice initially convened a nine-member bench to hear the suo motu notice regarding the delay in announcing provincial elections in both provinces.
Justices Ijazul Ahsan and Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi withdrew from the hearing on Monday at the start due to concerns about their eligibility to sit on the bench.
While expressing their views on the maintainability of the petitions on the subject, two further judges, Justice Afridi and Justice Minallah, withdrew from the proceedings.