Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, April 6: While the Supreme Court of Pakistan on Wednesday adjourned the hearing on the legality of rejection of the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan till Thursday, the speaker of the National Assembly Asad Qaiser has sought recommendations from both the ruling and the opposition parties for appointment of a caretaker prime minister pending the general elections.
In another development, the president Arif Alvi has asked the election commission to immediately suggest suitable dates for holding fresh elections to the National Assembly for the constitution of the new government. He pointed out that under the constitution he was required to appoint dates for holding fresh elections within 90 days of the dissolution of the National Assembly which was done on Sunday at the recommendation of the embattled prime minister Khan.
Qaiser on Wednesday wrote to both Khan and the leader of opposition Shehbaz Sharif seeking names for a parliamentary committee to appoint a caretaker prime minister. Citing clause (1) of Article 224-A of the Pakistan Constitution, Qaiser requested Khan and Sharif to nominate four members from the treasury to appoint a caretaker prime minister.
“I have the honour to invite your attention to clause (1) of Article 224-A of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan which is reproduced for your convenience, as under: 224A (1) In case the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition in the outgoing National Assembly do not agree on any person to be appointed as the care-taker Prime Minister, within three days of the dissolution of the National Assembly, they shall forward two nominees each to a Committee to be immediately constituted by the Speaker of the National Assembly, comprising eight members of the outgoing National Assembly, or the Senate, or both, having equal representation from the Treasury and the Opposition, to be nominated by the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition respectively,” he wrote in the letter.
Khan had stunned the opposition parties on Sunday by recommending snap elections, after a no-confidence motion against him was dismissed by the deputy speaker of the National Assembly Qasim Khan Suri through a controversial ruling. Suri, who was in chair because the opposition had earlier moved a no-confidence motion against the speaker Qaiser, had adjourned the House before putting the motion to vote stating that no-confidence motion tabled by the Opposition was linked with a “foreign conspiracy” to topple Khan’s government and was not maintainable. Khan then got President Alvi to dissolve the 342-member National Assembly much ahead of its term ending in August 2023.
The apex court within hours took suo motu notice of the political developments on Sunday and a five-member bench headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, started hearing the case on Monday on a day-to-day basis. On Wednesday the court said the matter would be heard again on Thursday while seeking minutes of the National Security Council meeting from the government.
At the court, the chief justice asked Babar Awan, who appeared for the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, about the minutes of the recent meeting of the National Security Council which had discussed a letter purportedly showing evidence of a foreign conspiracy to oust Khan’s led government. The court asked on what basis the speaker issued the order of dismissal of the motion stating it to be a “foreign conspiracy” to oust the Khan government.
Meanwhile, shortly after a friend of Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi left Pakistan, an image surfaced on social media, which showed her travelling in a flight with a luxury handbag. The friend, Farah Khan left for Dubai soon after the political turmoil on Sunday leading to the dissolution of Parliament. The photo, circulating widely on Twitter, shows Khan in a flight with the bag kept near her feet. It is not clear when the photo was taken.
The leaders of opposition parties in Pakistan have claimed that the bag was worth $90,000. “Farah Khan, Bushra’s Front woman who ran away. The bag with her is for $90,000. Yes that’s ninety thousand dollars,” tweeted Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Romina Khurshid Alam.
The photo has invited comments from other Twitter users as well. “Traveling in private jet to Dubai only costs more than 50,000 US dollars. Hermes sandals,” a user said. Khan’s husband had left Pakistan before her. Opposition parties in Pakistan allege that Farah Khan received a huge sum of money for getting officers transferred and posted according to their choices, calling the scam the “mother of all scandals” amounting to 6 billion Pakistani rupees ($32 million).
Maryam Nawaz, the PML-N vice president and deposed premier Nawaz Sharif’s daughter, claimed that Khan has done this corruption at the behest of Imran and his wife. According to Maryam, Prime Minister Imran Khan fears that once he is out of power, his “thefts” will be exposed. There are reports that more close aides of Khan have planned to leave the country after he loses the top office. Khan has been asked by the president to continue as the prime minister till a caretaker was appointed in his place.