Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, April 7: In his biggest ever political setback, the embattled Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan lost the constitutional battle in the Supreme Court which dismissed rejection of the no-confidence motion as “unconstitutional” and ordered restoration of the National Assembly asking Khan to face the test on the floor of the House within 48 hours on Saturday.
The Pakistan Supreme Court which was hearing the case on day-to-day basis since the constitutional turmoil following the rejection of the opposition-sponsored no-confidence motion on grounds of “foreign conspiracy,” on Thursday declared the ruling of deputy speaker Qasim Suri rejecting the motion “unconstitutional.” With the issue back to square one, Khan who plotted to run away from facing the vote of confidence through the deputy speaker, who belonged to his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, will now have to count on majority in the 342-member National Assembly on Saturday to survive.
Earlier during the day, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, while hearing a petition on whether Imran Khan and his allies had the legal right to dissolve parliament, had said Suri’s order to dismiss the no-confidence motion against the former Prime Minister, was “erroneous.” Chief Justice Bandial further noted that the move to dismiss the no trust motion through a controversial ruling was prima facie, a violation of Article 95 of the Constitution.
The remarks came as a five-member bench, headed by the Chief Justice of Pakistan Bandial, took up the case around 9.30 am Thursday. Senator Ali Zafar, representing the President Arif Alvi, was asked by the Bench as to whether the prime minister was the people’s representative and if the “Parliament was not a guardian of the Constitution”.
The Supreme Court also asked the President’s advocate as to how could there be a constitutional crisis if everything was happening according to the law of the land. The CJP questioned whether the formation of the federal government was an “internal matter” of the Parliament.
With almost everything going against Khan, the Pakistan’s election commission also on Thursday said it could not hold snap polls within 90 days, as requested by the president, and the earliest it could do so was October. “The Election Commission though fully committed to hold elections would however require at least four additional months,” the commission’s statement said. The president had asked the election commission to propose a date within the next 90 days to hold snap polls after Prime Minister Khan dissolved the lower house of parliament on Sunday. According to ECP Spokesperson, the commission, in its letter to Pakistan Arif Alvi, has contended that it requires four months to complete the delimitation in addition to organising general elections in 90 days, Radio Pakistan reported. The ECP stated that keeping these reasons in view, elections are only possible in October this year.
The National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri on Sunday ruled that the no-confidence motion was linked with a “foreign conspiracy” (Read the US) to topple the Khan government and therefore was not maintainable.” Minutes later, President Arif Alvi dissolved the National Assembly on the advice of Khan.
The prevailing crisis began to unfold after the opposition submitted the no-confidence motion against the Prime Minister on March 28. The voting was scheduled to be held on April 3 but the deputy speaker rejected the motion, citing “conspiracy” leading to dissolution of Parliament and ordering fresh elections within 90 days. The combined opposition, who claimed to have mustered majority to get the motion through, however, besides moving the Supreme Court, also refused to vacate the dissolved Parliament House and held a “own session” and “adopted” the no confidence motion with 197 votes in favour. Khan has dismissed the motion saying that the move to remove him was an attempt at regime change backed by the United States.
The Pakistan Supreme Court summoned the secretary of the Pakistan Election Commission, who arrived with the poll panel’s legal team ahead of the verdict on the rejection of no-confidence motion against Imran Khan. The Election Commission told the Supreme Court that it would require four months to hold transparent elections.
The opposition had challenged the dissolution of the national assembly by President Arif Alvi on Imran Khan’s advice while the SC had also taken suo motu notice of the constitutional crisis in Pakistan caused by the rejection of the no confidence motion without voting. The opposition had always claimed the support of at least 177 members, five more than 172 votes required to oust the Khan government.
This after key PTI allies Balochistan Awami Party and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (Pakistan) crossed over to the opposition. Imran Khan has alleged a US hand behind the no-confidence motion moved against his government. He even named a US diplomat Donald Lu, accusing him of being involved in the alleged conspiracy to topple his regime. In the history of Pakistan’s politics, no prime minister has completed a full-five year term. The country has been ruled by the all-powerful Pakistan Army for more than three decades.
India on Thursday declined to comment on the political turmoil in Pakistan saying it was an “internal matter” of that country but noted that it was keeping an eye on the developments in Islamabad. “It is their internal matter. I do not have any comment to make on this. We are keeping an eye on it but we do not comment on internal matters (of any country),” External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said. At a media briefing, he was asked to comment on the political developments in Islamabad.