Senate polls hearing reference: SC adjourns hearing till February 22
- Justice Ahsan says the alliance of political parties does not make any difference on proportional representation, if a party wants to unite, it should do so openly
- Raza Rabbani told the court that there is a difference between horse trading and political alliance as political alliance is usually secret
(Karachi) Supreme Court Judge Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan has said that the alliance of political parties does not make any difference on proportional representation and if a party wants to unite, it should do so openly.
Ahsan's remarks come during hearing of the Presidential reference seeking open ballot voting in the upcoming senate elections, local media reported on Friday.
A five-member bench of the top court headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed heard the presidential reference seeking the court’s advice over open ballot in the upcoming Senate elections 2021.
During the proceedings, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Raza Rabbani said that the purpose of the formation of the Senate is equal representation of all the provinces, in a parliamentary system, the two houses never run by consensus, it is not necessary the party that forms the government in the federation have a majority in the province, a coalition of opposition parties could also change the proportion of seats in the Senate. I will give a detailed position on the point of proportional representation.
Supreme Court Judge Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan said that proportional representation is mentioned in both Article 51 and Article 59. The alliance of political parties does not make any difference on proportional representation, if a party wants to unite, it should do so openly.
Rabbani said that in the province of Punjab, there is an alliance between PTI and PML-Q. PTI has also given a Senate seat to PML-Q in the Senate.
Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan said that the representation of a political party in the Senate should be proportional in the province.
Justice Umar Ata Bandial said that many times political parties also make adjustments with the parties of other provinces. Why is it important to keep secret even if there is an inter-provincial alliance? He questioned. Raza Rabbani replied that there is a difference between horse trading and political alliance, political alliance is usually secret.
After hearing the arguments the Apex court adjourned the hearing on the presidential reference till Monday (February 22).
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