Polls should be held on the same day: Rana Sanaullah

ISLAMABAD, April 9 (SABAH): Federal Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan has said that elections must be held on the same day, terming it his final political opinion.

Rana Sanaullah Khan expressed these views during in an interview with a private TV channel. He further remarked, “We were saying that elections of two provinces must not be held but at present polls are not going to be conducted even in two provinces but only in one. We hope all institutions including Parliament will not exceed their powers. We have no personal enmity with judges and think they would also not proceed ahead while making this matter controversial. We will accept decision of larger bench, to be made under new law.”

The federal interior minister further said that they saved the country from bankruptcy and pledged to take it out of current crisis, adding “if we had not accepted this government, Pakistan would have bankrupted whereas former prime minister and Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan would have thrown the country into disorder and anarchy. At least the country exists at present.”

Rana Sanaullah said the decision of Supreme Court of Pakistan relating to 4/3 was not their invention. When bench reduced from 9 to 7 then four judges out of seven announced their decision. He said at first they issued their short verdicts and then detailed verdicts, while giving reasons that bench consisted of seven members, adding they even penned down that they reject petitions with 4/3 majority. Two judges who were part of five-member bench, they wrote in their verdicts that they support decision of their brother judges.

He further said that Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) does not enjoy powers to term that it was 3/2 or 4/3 decision as Commission cannot turn down opinion of four judges and that four judges have not taken back their decision yet.

The minister said they were not going to fight with the ECP at any rate but “we have our own viewpoint which we understand is justified in the eyes of law and Constitution. We will keep on standing on our justified position. We will conclude our constitutional and legal war and struggle. It is our final word that polls must be held on the same day.”

“There are 54 % seats of National Assembly belong to Punjab and in case the provincial assembly election is held, general elections in the three provinces could be snatched as the incoming government of Punjab either of PML-N or someone else, it would dictate outcomes of next election which is why we want to end this imbalance situation,” he argued.

The minister said a person who dissolved assemblies due to his ego and stubbornness, he must not be given any weightage and added the polls need to be held on the same day. According to new legislation, right of appeal has been given against the verdicts of suo motu notice cases, he said, and added “we will go for an appeal and may get a full bench formation whereas larger bench is no issue at all. We will put our view point in front of larger bench and accept its decision.”

Rana Sanaullah further said that if Supreme Court rejects to accept powers of the Parliament, then the legislator was not so weak that it will remain mum on this kind of act of the court. He said the Supreme Court is not supposed to hold elections as it has no such powers and continued it could not throw out the law framed by the Parliament.