Just a day after the government and the opposition reached some semblance of consensus on country-wide polls, the PTI on Wednesday submitted a letter to the Supreme Court seeking the implementation of the SC’s order on holding elections in Punjab on May 14 “in letter and spirit” and stated that “in spite of the best efforts of parties, no solution within the Constitution” was found.

A day earlier, the PTI and federal coalition concluded the make-or-break round of the much-awaited negotiations on polls. The talks began on the top court’s advice last week.

Speaking to reporters after the sitting last night, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar — who was leading the government side — had told reporters that both sides had agreed to hold elections to the national and provincial assemblies on a single date under the watch of caretaker setups, but it had yet to be decided what that date would be.

On the other hand, PTI leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi had regretted that no decision could be taken on “practicable proposals” put forward by his party.

Subsequently, PTI lawyers Faisal Chaudhry and Ali Bukhari submitted a report on the government-PTI negotiations in the apex court today.

The report, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, stated that after the Supreme Court’s order, talks between the government and the PTI were held “with full sincerity” on April 27, April 28, and May 2.

It outlined that the parties arrived at the consensus that a dialogue between political parties was important and the solution to all political questions ultimately lay with the political parties.

“Both teams shall endeavor to hold this dialogue with full sincerity and try to arrive at a solution that is (a) in the best interest of the people and Pakistan and (b) in accordance with law and the Constitution,” the report highlighted.

It said that the parties also agreed not to use the dialogue as a “delaying tactic” and the talks “have no bearing” on the SC’s April 4 judgment “until and unless an agreement within the confines of the Constitution is arrived at between the parties and such agreement is implemented”.

The PTI recalled in the report that its initial stance was that elections to the assemblies needed to be held within 90 days as already determined by the SC.

“This being the constitutional mandate, there is no scope for changing this date by ordinary consent of the parties. The request was accordingly made to the PDM/alliance to abide by the constitutional provisions and the orders of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and hold the elections to the Punjab Assembly on 14.05.2023. It was also stressed that elections to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly be held forthwith as well.”

However, the opposition party contended that the government’s stance was that elections to the national and provincial assemblies should be held on the same day in October 2023 after the dissolution of the National Assembly (NA) and the legislatures of Sindh and Balochistan.

After deliberations, the report continued, the PTI extended a proposal to the ruling alliance that it was willing to hold the elections across the country on the same date subject to the following conditions:

1. If the NA and other remaining provincial assemblies were dissolved by or before May 14.
2. The elections to the NA as well as to the provincial assemblies of Sindh, Punjab, KP, and Balochistan be held together within 60 days of the dissolution of the national and provincial assemblies i.e. in the second week of July 2023.
3. In order to give a constitutional cover to the holding of the elections to the provincial assemblies of Punjab and KP beyond the period of 90 days, MNAs belonging to PTI will rejoin the NA and a one-time constitutional amendment validating the delay in elections beyond the period of 90 days for Punjab and KP assemblies shall be carried out by mutual consent of the political parties.
4. All the parties shall agree that the election results shall be accepted as a whole subject to individual grievances in accordance with the law.
5. An agreement in writing to the above effect shall be submitted before the SC in order to ensure that the implementation of the agreement was complied with by the parties in letter and spirit.

The PTI report went on to say that the government rejected its proposal.

“Instead, they have proposed that the dissolution of the National Assembly and the provincial assemblies of Sindh and Balochistan shall take place on July 30 and elections be held in 90 days thereafter i.e. the first week of October 2023 for the National Assembly and the provincial assemblies of Punjab, Sindh, KP and Balochistan together,” it said.

The opposition party further highlighted that there was a “lack of consensus” between the parties regarding the “implementation of the agreement”.

Subsequently, the PTI prayed that despite the “best efforts of the parties”, a solution “within the Constitution” could not be reached.

“It is accordingly prayed that the judgment dated 04.04.2023 passed in Constitution Petition No.5 of 2023 requiring elections to be held to the Punjab Assembly on 14.05.2023 may be implemented in letter and spirit so that the Constitution is upheld and does not stand violated, and this petition may be disposed of accordingly,” the report concluded.

Election impasse

Last month, the Supreme Court — while hearing a PTI petition — had directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hold general elections to the Punjab Assembly on May 14. However, the government had rejected the apex court’s orders.

After repeated back and forth last week, the Supreme Court on April 20 afforded a temporary respite to the country’s main political parties, giving them time till April 26 to develop a consensus on the date for elections to the provincial and national assemblies, so they could be held simultaneously across the country.

However, on April 26, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reiterated that simultaneous elections will take place in Octo­ber or November after the current National Asse­mbly completed its term on August 13, whereas parliament will have the final say regarding the initiation of talks with the opposition.

The government wanted to talk to the PTI, he had said, adding that there was an overwhelming opinion that the doors of dialogue should not be closed, but its format was yet to be decided. “The decision [regarding talks] has to be taken by parliament, not you or me,” he added.

Subsequently, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani had formed a committee with four members each from both the ruling coalition and the opposition for dialogue.

Dar, former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, PML-N’s Khawaja Saad Rafique, Azam Nazeer Tarar and Sardar Ayaz Sadiq along with PPP’s Syed Naveed Qamar represented the government in the negotiations. Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s Kishwar Zehra and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid’s Tariq Bashir Cheema were also included in the government’s negotiating team.

Meanwhile, the opposition delegation consisted of the party’s Vice Chairman Qureshi, Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry, and Senator Ali Zafar.