Federal cabinet leaves funds’ approval for Punjab elections to parliament

Lahore: The federal cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif lasted for more than two hours before concluding. Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif presided over the federal cabinet meeting via video link, while most of the cabinet members also participated in the meeting via video link.

Federal Minister Riaz Pirzada, Sajid Tori, Prime Minister's Advisor Amir Mughal, Housing Minister Maulana Abdul Wase, and Minister of State Hashim Noutizi participated in the meeting held at the Prime Minister's House.

According to the sources, some cabinet members, including Federal Ministers Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and Saad Rafique, participated in the meeting from Model Town Lahore.

The government's legal team also participated in the federal cabinet meeting, which discussed important matters.

The sources said that a decision was made during the meeting by the federal government regarding whether to provide funds to the election commission for Punjab elections or not.

They said that during the federal cabinet meeting, an assessment of the country's political and economic situation was conducted, and even after the Supreme Court's practice and procedure was sent back, it was still discussed.

They said that the federal cabinet meeting did not approve funds for the Punjab elections, and instead gave the matter of Punjab Election Funds to the National Assembly. A decision was made in the meeting that the parliament is supreme and has the authority to decide on the Punjab Assembly election funds.

The Supreme Court had ordered the Ministry of Finance to give the Election Commission 21 billion rupees and directed the commission to submit a report to the court by April 11th.

It should be remembered that a few days ago, the National Assembly had passed a bill on judicial reforms and sent it to the President of Pakistan for authentication. However, President Arif Alvi sent the bill back to the parliament for reconsideration.

The President of Pakistan stated that ultimately, this bill is outside the parliament's jurisdiction, and the bill can be challenged in court for being artificial and insufficient. In my opinion, it is appropriate to send it back for a thorough investigation and reconsideration of the bill's accuracy.