Thread by @salmanAraja

Let us be clear: we are going through a period of constitutional defiance & fraud like no other in our history. Elections within 90 days of dissolution is the basic democratic right of the people that is being denied. This denial is not justified by any other wrong in the past.

Intellectual fraud is committed when denial of the 90 day constitutional mandate is linked to how Ar 63A was interpreted. That strained interpretation brought down the Punjab govt a few weeks earlier than otherwise. Bye election results on 17 July would have terminated it anyway.

The 63A judgment and its review would be relevant only if the Punjab assembly were to be restored. No side of the political divide has sought that since 14 Jan. Hence focus on 63A is nothing but a diversion from the real issue.

That benches have been handpicked to achieve desired results & some judges have been excluded is a sad reality that has existed for decades. The Bhutto appeal bench in 1979 and the Wali Khan bench in 1976 were clearly handpicked. This doesn't justify defiance of the Const today.

Not one judge has held that elections are not to be held within 90 days. Nothing in the Const requires elections on the same day in all provinces or that provincial caretakers are needed for federal elections. If desirable, this requires a const amendment that dilutes federalism.

Concerns about how benches are formed and whether we should remain a federation with provincial and national elections held independently are important concerns. Using them to create noise against the 90 day limit and CJP Bandial is nothing but fraud. Too many have joined in.