ISLAMABAD: The government on Monday tabled a money bill in both houses of parliament seeking the allocation of funds to conduct elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in line with the Supreme Court’s order directing polls in Punjab on May 14.
The bill, titled ‘Charge Sums for General Election (Provincial Assemblies of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) Act 2023’, was introduced by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar first in the National Assembly and then in the Senate under Article 81(e) of the Constitution, following a meeting of the cabinet, chaired by PM Shehbaz Sharif.
Presenting the three-page bill, the finance minister also delivered a speech in the National Assembly in which he, as usual, lashed out at the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government’s economic policies. Mr Dar claimed the country had successfully averted bankruptcy and now it was on its way to stability and development.
As per the Constitution, the Senate has no role in the passage of a money bill and is only required to give recommendations within 14 days.
Dar tables money bill in NA, Senate; claims country has averted bankruptcy
These recommendations, however, are not binding upon the National Assembly.
While passing the IMF-dictated supplementary finance bill in February, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani had directed the house finance committee to come up with its recommendations within two days.
However, this time, the Senate chairman has asked the committee to finalise the recommendations by April 14 (Friday).
On April 4, a three-judge bench of the SC had ordered the Election Commission of Pakistan to hold elections for the Punjab Assembly on May 14 and directed the federal government to release Rs21 billion to the ECP for the elections of the assemblies of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The court had set April 10 as the deadline for the release of the amount, asking the ECP to report back to it, in case it did not receive the funds.
Federal Consolidated Fund
Constitutional and legal experts see the government’s move to introduce the bill on the last day of the SC-set deadline as an effort to further delay the election process as the passage of the bill could take at least two weeks if the government follows the law in letter and spirit. According to them, if this bill is rejected by parliament it will be the first occasion in history that a money bill will not get parliament’s nod.
Article 81 of the Constitution, titled “Expenditure charged upon Federal Consolidated Fund”, explains the funds for which the federal government needs approval from parliament before spending them under the heads not mentioned in the finance bill, generally known as the federal budget.
Article 81(e), under which the bill has been moved, however, reads as “any other sums declared by the Constitution or by Act of [Parliament] to be so charged.”
Though under the Constitution and rules, it is incumbent upon the government to seek prior approval of the funds to be spent under “consolidated funds”, there has been a tradition that the governments seek approval for such allocations at the time of passage of the federal budget with retrospective effect.
On April 2, perhaps in anticipation of the SC verdict, the Ministry of Finance had notified that “no authority” could make or incur or commit any expenditure or create a liability against the Federal Consolidated Fund or Public Account of the federation unless it was properly authorised in the budget through a fiscal and parliamentary process.
The statement of objects and reasons attached to the bill states that the SC has directed the federal government to release Rs21bn to the ECP to hold elections in Punjab and KP “without general election of the National Assembly and provincial assemblies of Balochistan and Sindh”.
It stated that in order to ensure general elections in Punjab and KP, “it is necessary to make a law under paragraph (e) of Article 81 of the Constitution for release of sums as a charged expenditure upon the Federal Consolidated Fund”.
Published in Dawn, April 11th, 2023