Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, April 4: While launching a blistering attack on the opposition calling them “corrupt” and aiding a “foreign conspiracy,” the embattled outgoing Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan on Monday recommended the former chief justice of Pakistan Supreme Court Gulzar Ahmed for the office of the caretaker prime minister to oversee the national elections.
The Information Minister in Khan’s cabinet and senior leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party Fawad Chaudhry said Khan made the decision after approval from the party’s core committee. The announcement came after President Arif Alvi sent letters to Khan and Leader of the Opposition Shehbaz Sharif on Monday seeking suggestions for the appointment of a caretaker Prime Minister.
Sharif has refused to send any recommendation pointing at the “illegality” of the dissolution of the National Assembly and calling for fresh elections without taking the vote on the no-confidence motion against the Khan-led coalition government, expecting the Supreme Court, which had taken suo motu notice of the swift political developments, to decide in favour of the opposition. The Supreme Court on Monday decided to postpone the hearing on the issue by a day.
Accusing the opposition, Khan wondered why are they running away from fresh elections when they were demanding the same ever since his government took over power. Khan said the Opposition was seeking to bring National Reconciliation Ordinance 2 to get away with their corrupt practices and added that they have only won the match by siding with the umpire. Khan told reporters, “Over 90 percent of corruption cases occurred during their regime. They want to send billions of rupees abroad. They want to build their empires. They want to meddle with Election commission. They have only won the matches by siding with the umpires.”
He added that the opposition has been seeking regime change for past 3.5 years and now when he has called for early elections they want to go to the Supreme Court. “For past 3.5 years Opposition has been calling for early elections. They said my rule was bad. They said people will throw eggs on us. They said that we have destroyed the nation. They asked for change in PM and called for elections,” he said.
Imran Khan while countering the opposition on their recent backlash on calls for early elections, stated, “Now the question is that why they have taken the route of SC, if that is what they wanted. They used to ask for the elections. So why they have chosen the Supreme Court route.” He questioned the opposition, “So what is better? To come through the choice of people or by the foreign conspiracy.”
“In response to the President’s letter, after consultation and approval by the PTI Core Committee, Prime Minister Imran Khan has nominated Pakistan’s former chief justice Gulzar Ahmed for the post of caretaker Prime Minister,” Chaudhry said.
In his letter, President Alvi told them in case they do not agree on the appointment within three days of the dissolution of the Parliament, they shall forward two nominees each to a committee to be constituted by the Speaker, comprising eight members of the outgoing assembly, or the Senate, or both, having equal representation from the treasury and the opposition.
The Constitution has empowered the president to appoint a caretaker prime minister in consultation with the prime minister and the leader of the Opposition in the outgoing National Assembly, the President’s Secretariat said in a statement. Khan is supposed to continue as Prime Minister until a caretaker premier is appointed, according to the notification issued by President Alvi.
Born in 1957, Justice Ahmed served as chief justice from December, 2019 until his retirement in February 2022. He was part of a five-judge bench that disqualified former premier Nawaz Sharif in the Panama Paper case. He made headlines multiple times due to his strong verdicts and comments against governments and bureaucrats.
Justice Ahmed had also ordered authorities to reconstruct a temple vandalised by a mob in northwest Pakistan and instructed them to recover the money for the restoration work from the attackers whose act had caused “international embarrassment” to Pakistan. He had also attended a grand function at the rebuilt temple to celebrate Diwali festival last year and to express solidarity with the members of the Hindu community.
Shehbaz Sharif said he would not take part in the process and termed it “illegal”, saying that the President and Khan had broken the law and questioned how they could approach the Opposition. Reacting to Sharif’s decision, outgoing information minister Fawad Chaudhry said: “Pakistan is gearing up for the elections… Shehbaz has said he will not be a part of the process, that’s his choice. “We have sent two names (to the president) today. If (Shehbaz) does not send the names within seven days, one of these will be finalised.”
Earlier in the day, the Cabinet Secretariat issued a notification stating that Khan had “ceased to hold the office of the prime minister of Pakistan with immediate effect.” However, under Article 94 of the Constitution, the president “may ask the Prime Minister to continue to hold office until his successor enters upon the office of Prime Minister.”
“Mr. Imran Ahmad Khan Niazi, shall continue as Prime Minister till the appointment of caretaker Prime Minister under Article 224 A (4) of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan,” the President said on Twitter. President Alvi had dissolved the NA on the advice of Prime Minister Khan, minutes after Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri rejected the no-confidence motion against the premier, who had effectively lost the majority in the 342-member lower house of Parliament.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, after taking a suo motu cognizance of the political situation in the country, said all orders and actions initiated by the Prime Minister and the President regarding the dissolution of the National Assembly would be subject to the court’s order as he adjourned for one day the hearing of the high-profile case. A three-member bench held the initial hearing despite the weekend and issued notices to all the respondents, including President Alvi and Deputy Speaker of the NA Suri. The Supreme Court ordered all parties not to take any “unconstitutional” measures and adjourned the hearing until Tuesday.
Ahsan Bhoon, President, Supreme Court Bar, said the action of the prime minister and deputy speaker was against the constitution and “they should be prosecuted for treason under Article 6 of the constitution. Leading constitutional lawyer Salman Akram Raja said the “entire procure by the deputy speaker and the advice by the premier to dissolve the assembly was unconstitutional.” Raja said the illegality of the ruling would also make the advice as illegal as the prime minister cannot give advice to the assembly after a no-confidence motion was presented in the parliament against him.
The crisis erupted after Suri rejected the no-confidence motion, providing Prime Minister Khan to send an advice to the president of the country to dissolve Parliament, which as the constitutional lawyers said he could not do until any outcome of the no-confidence vote.