High-ranking officials from Pakistan’s two leading intelligence agencies, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Military Intelligence (MI), met with Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial and two other supreme court judges on Monday to discuss matters related to the upcoming May 14 election in Punjab.
The judges convened with the heads of ISI and MI for over three hours in the Chief Justice’s chamber, where the intelligence officials briefed them on the country’s current security challenges.
A three-judge panel, comprising Chief Justice Bandial, Justice Munib Akhtar, and Justice Ijazul Ahsan, deemed the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision to delay the Punjab Assembly election “unconstitutional” on April 4 and directed the ECP to hold elections in the province on May 14.
Citing a worsening security situation in the financially struggling nation, the ECP had previously postponed the crucial Punjab province election by over five months on March 22.
On April 14, the same panel instructed the State Bank of Pakistan to provide Rs21 billion to the ECP to conduct elections in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and send an “appropriate communication” to the finance ministry by April 17.
During a previous hearing, the defense secretary had requested an in-camera briefing on security issues. However, the panel asked for a classified report to be submitted first.
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According to a lawyer, April 17 was the deadline for submitting a security plan to the ECP per the Supreme Court’s directive. However, it appears that the intelligence officials discussed with the judges their reasons for not being able to provide army personnel for security duty on May 14.
It is uncertain whether the Supreme Court was satisfied with the briefing. However, if the judges are convinced that the current security situation prevents the deployment of troops for election security in Punjab, the briefing could have significant implications.
In the meantime, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has scheduled a meeting with his coalition partners on Tuesday to discuss the evolving political landscape. In addition, he will update his allies on the Supreme Court’s ongoing cases related to elections and the Chief Justice’s powers.
