The prime minister, cabinet and Supreme Court

Acts of omission and commission

The 18th amendment transferred powers from the president to the prime minister, making the latter the real chief executive of the country. It was however forgotten by the PML-N government that the PM was not entitled to act like a king. He had instead to take decisions in cabinet meetings. In UK, from where Pakistan has inherited the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy, the PM presides over cabinet meetings every week on a fixed day. What is more the prime minister is available in the House of Commons to answer questions put by the members of the House.

The constitutional illegality was noticed by the SC while delivering a verdict on certain levies enforced by the government. As the court observed, “Neither a secretary, nor a minister and nor the prime minister are the federal government, thus the exercise, or purported exercise, of a statutory power exercisable by the federal government by any of them, especially, in relation to fiscal matters, is constitutionally invalid and a nullity in the eyes of the law.” Similarly, budgetary expenditure or discretionary governmental expenditure can only be authorised by the federal government i.e. the cabinet, and not the prime minister on his own.

It is unfortunate that the SC has to intervene so frequently to warn the government against certain acts of omission and commission. The apex court had to put pressure at regular intervals to hold local government elections which were a long-neglected constitutional obligation. It has now warned the PM against sending bills or ordinances to the parliament without first debating them in the cabinet.

The verdict came on the day the PM had called a cabinet meeting where he asked the ministers to come up with a plan to speed up CPEC and prepare a package for children of families whose earning members had suffered from terrorist attacks. One welcomes the cabinet meeting hoping that these would be held regularly at short intervals.