AG Office challenges bill on dissolving small political parties in Supreme Court

Attorney General’s Office has filed a case in the Supreme Court challenging the bill passed by parliament that will dissolve the parties that do not have a membership count of more than 10,000 members.

An official from the Attorney General's Office (AG) said today that the case was submitted asking to make a declaration regarding a party that will be responsible for the financial debts that are held by smaller parties, as the bill is set to cause such parties to be dissolved.

The official said that the case does not involve the issue of the dissolution of parties that have less than 10,000 members; rather, the purpose of the case is to find a solution to the lack of a clause in the bill that determines the party that would take responsibility for the financial debts that are held by smaller parties.

“The case has been filed to Supreme Court in two ways. The first is a request to rule that small parties will not be dissolved. The other is a request to declare void the clause that states that parties with less than 10,000 members will be dissolved. The bill does not state any procedure about who will take responsibility for the financial debts and employees of small parties upon dissolution,” an official of the AG Office said.

This was also noted in the AG’s advice to the president against ratifying the bill after it was passed by the parliament at the end of last year.

Spokesperson of President Waheed’s political party Gaumee Itthihad Party (GIP), Abbas Adil Riza said at a press conference today that GIP will file a case in relation to the political parties bill to the Supreme Court today.

“Our concern isn’t just the 10,000 minimum membership requirement. The bill contains several areas of concern,” he said.

He said that the bill would obstruct political activities and would result in high costs for the government.

The bill on political parties, which states that parties will less than 10,000 members will be dissolved after three months, was returned to the parliament without ratification by the president at the end of last year. The parliament, however, passed the bill yesterday without any revision.