Parliament's ruling came hours after the government rejected a panel set up and headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial that was due to rule on a draft law clipping his own powers, claiming conflict of interest. The court later in the day issued an order, directing the government to stop enforcement of the new law. "The Act that comes into being shall not have, take or be given any effect (and) not be acted upon in any manner," a court order seen by Reuters said.
The standoffs come with Pakistan facing soaring inflation and an acute balance of payments crisis as
talks with the IMF
to secure $1.1 billion funding, part of a $6.5 billion
bailout package agreed to in 2019, have so far yielded no
results.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's government says it is not economically viable to hold snap elections, in two provinces where former leader Imran Khan had
dissolved the local governments this year, ahead of a general election due in October.
A parliamentary finance committee said it was not possible to spare 21 billion rupees ($74.79 million) in funds for the snap polls, said government adviser Ata Tarar.
The committee had acted on a money bill moved by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar earlier this week to seek the
funds
.
House Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf made the ruling against
providing the funds in a live television broadcast.
Voting is constitutionally mandated within 90 days of the dissolution of a legislative assembly.
The Supreme Court had ordered snap polls in the most
populated Punjab province to be held on May 14, and said a date
could be agreed later for the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
province, pending some technical issues.
(Reporting by Asif Shahzad; Editing by Nick Macfie)
