ISLAMABAD: A timely intervention by Attorney General Irfan Qadir saved the day for the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) when he assured the Supreme Court on Friday that he would meet Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) retired Justice Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim to sort out the issue of giving voting rights to overseas Pakistanis.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was about to issue a directive to the commission after ECP Director General Sher Afgan declined to take hasty steps. The decision in this regard, he said, had been taken by the CEC and the commission at a meeting held on Thursday.

Advocate Munir Paracha, representing the ECP, argued before the bench which was in the middle of dictating a short order that any adverse decision by the court would vitiate the entire election process. He said the court should restrict its order to the extent of directing the caretaker government only to enforce a temporary legislation for the grant of voting rights to Pakistanis living abroad.

This prompted the attorney general to come to the rostrum to request for adjournment of the case so that he could meet the CEC and settle the matter.

The court accepted the request and provided a last opportunity to implement the constitutional command and the court’s earlier order, but it made it clear that the stand taken by the ECP was letting down the attorney general.

Irfan Qadir had assured the court, the chief justice observed, that whatever was being asked by it was doable.

The court expressed displeasure over the ECP stance, especially when other stakeholders — Nadra (National Database and Registration Authority), ministries of foreign affairs and finance and the Overseas Pakistanis Foundation — had assured the court of their complete cooperation.

While the finance ministry said it would release funds needed for the project, the foreign affairs ministry stated that seven of the nine countries approached had given permission for using Pakistani missions as polling stations on the election day.

Although the attorney general said he would make a last-ditch effort to resolve the issue by meeting the CEC, he questioned the maintainability of the petitions moved by Chaudhry Nasir Iqbal and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan on the right of franchise for overseas Pakistanis. Mr Qadir argued that the issue raised by the petitioners involved no fundamental rights; besides the ECP was not obliged to provide the facility outside the territory of Pakistan. Any Pakistani living abroad, he said, could exercise this right by visiting his home constituency on the polling day. He said that under article 220 of the constitution, the caretaker government was bound to follow the ECP decision and when the commission itself stated that the right could not be given for the time being what the government could do.

The attorney general suggested that any clash between the commission and the apex court should be avoided and the mandate of an independent institution like the ECP be respected.

He objected to the jurisdiction of the apex court to grant relief being sought and said that since it was the job of the ECP to arrange elections, no directive could be given to it to extend the facility of voting rights to overseas Pakistanis.

Similarly, Mr Qadir said, it was also not the job of the Supreme Court, but of the National Assembly which currently stood dissolved, to make a legislation relating to voting rights. No legislation was possible unless a new assembly was elected.

He argued that since the legislators would take a decision on the matter under article 2A of the constitution in future, the apex court should not take the issue in its own hands.

The court directed the attorney general to meet constitutional functionaries empowered with the authority to issue a temporary legislation (ordinance) as well as the ECP and inform it on Monday about the outcome of the meetings.