ISLAMABAD, Apr 26 (APP):Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar on Wednesday asserted that the Parliament possessed complete authority to allocate Rs 21 billion to the Election Commission of Pakistan for conducting the upcoming elections in the Punjab province, scheduled for May 14.
“The use of the phrase ‘sovereign powers’ implies that the decision is legally and constitutionally valid, allowing the Parliament to exercise its jurisdiction in this matter,” he added.
The minister was speaking in the National Assembly after obtaining approval to suspend the Question Hour and deliberate on the Federal Cabinet’s decision to refer a summary to the Parliament for the allocation of Rs 21 billion to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for the upcoming general elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.
He emphasized that certain clauses in the Constitution “explicitly state that expenditures necessitate the approval of the National Assembly. The Federal Cabinet has once again submitted the Supreme Court’s directives from April 19, requesting for the allocation of funds, to the National Assembly.”
The minister raised a question regarding the Supreme Court’s instructions to disburse the amount without the National Assembly’s authorization, stating that if the election funds were released without their approval, it was unclear from whom the amount would be recovered.
Tarar was of the opinion that the election fund bill had been declined twice by both houses of the
Parliament. As a result, the government could not distribute funds without the approval of the National Assembly.
