Apex Court questions utility of interim governments.

ISLAMABAD -- The Supreme Court has called into question the utility of having caretaker governments. It has noted that the task to hold free and fair elections has been assigned in the Constitution to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and that the idea of caretaker setups was introduced later. "One objective of a caretaker government is to ensure transparent elections. However, the responsibility for transparent elections lies with another institution [ECP] as per the Constitution.

"When this responsibility is vested in the ECP, what is the need for a caretaker government?" Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa said on Tuesday while hearing a case with regard to holding timely elections in the country. Justice Isa, who was leading a three-member bench, noted that the person-military dictator General Ziaul Haq- who introduced the idea of caretaker government in the Constitution...