Salman Akram Raja, an Advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan tweeted about the current constitutional crisis in Pakistan and called it a period of constitutional defiance and fraud. Raja claimed that the basic democratic right of holding elections within 90 days of dissolution is being denied to the people, and that this denial cannot be justified by any past wrongs.
He went on to criticize what he mentioned in his tweet as “intellectual fraud,” where the denial of the 90-day constitutional mandate is linked to the interpretation of Article 63A. He suggested that this interpretation was strained and brought down the Punjab government earlier than it otherwise would have been. He argued that bye-election results on July 17th would have terminated the government anyway, rendering the focus on Article 63A a diversion from the real issue.
The lawyer, also highlighted the issue of handpicking benches to achieve desired results and excluding certain judges, a practice that he says has existed for decades. Raja pointed to the Bhutto appeal bench in 1979 and the Wali Khan bench in 1976 as examples of this. However, he emphasized that this does not justify defiance of the Constitution today.
Raja then addressed the issue of whether elections are required to be held within 90 days. He also mentioned that not one judge has held that they are not, and that nothing in the Constitution requires elections to be held on the same day in all provinces or that provincial caretakers are needed for federal elections. Raja argued that if this is desirable, it would require a constitutional amendment that dilutes federalism.
He expressed concern about how benches are formed and whether Pakistan should remain a federation with provincial and national elections held independently. However, he accused those using these concerns to create noise against the 90-day limit and Chief Justice of Pakistan Bandial of committing fraud, suggesting that too many have joined in.
Salman Akram Raja’s tweets highlighted a number of issues facing Pakistan’s democratic institutions, including the denial of the right to hold elections within 90 days of dissolution and the handpicking of benches to achieve desired results. While he acknowledges the importance of addressing these issues, Raja argued that they should not be used as a diversion from the real issue at hand. Overall, his tweets serve as a reminder of the importance of upholding constitutional principles and protecting democratic rights in Pakistan.
