LAHORE    -     Pakistan Tehreek-e-In­saf (PTI) yesterday de­manded the Supreme Court to initiate con­tempt proceedings against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the federal cabinet for not releasing funds to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for the Punjab and Khyber Pa­khtunkhwa polls.

In a tweet, PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry said despite the apex court's orders, the State Bank of Paki­stan's decision not to release funds is in vio­lation of the laws.

The top court had di­rectly ordered the cen­tral bank to provide Rs21 billion to the ECP for holding the polls in the two provinces till April 17 but despite the passage of the deadline, the funds have not yet been released.

"No parliament has the authority to pre­vent people from vot­ing. Such a parliament can lay the foundation of a fascist government, but it cannot have any­thing to do with a dem­ocratic system," he said.

The PTI’s senior leader said in line with the Constitution, the parliament does not have any prerogative over the elec­tion expenses. In the tweets, the ex-information minister also mentioned that his par­ty was focused on negotia­tions with the government, but the rulers were exhibit­ing a “non-serious” attitude in this regard. He added that the negotiations would be held in line with the Constitu­tion and the Supreme Court’s orders, while noting that de­laying the elections would be tantamount to subverting the Constitution.