A petition filed in Pakistan’s Supreme Court has challenged the chaotic developments that unfolded in the country’s National Assembly earlier in the day, wherein the Imran Khan government sidestepped a trust vote it was certain to lose.
The petition, filed by Pakistan People’s Party secretary general Syed Nayyar Hussain Bukhari, has alleged that the deputy speaker’s act to disallow voting was a “violation of fundamental rights”. Seeking an early hearing, the petition has termed it an “illegal act” that should be set aside.
The petition, a copy of which has been accessed by News18 has named seven entities, including the speaker of the National Assembly, the deputy speaker of the house, the Prime Minister and President.
Pakistan’s president dissolved parliament on Sunday setting the stage for early elections after Imran Khan controversially skirted the no-confidence move earlier in the day. Khan asked President Arif Alvi to dissolve the National Assembly, or law-making lower house of parliament, accusing his political opposition of working with the United States to overthrow his government.
Pakistan’s constitution calls for the establishment of an interim government to see the country toward elections, which are to be held within 90 days.
According to the constitution, the interim government is to be established with input from the opposition. Khan’s political opponents have called a decision by the parliament’s deputy speaker to throw out their no-confidence resolution illegal and have approached the Supreme Court.
The battle between Khan, a cricket star-turned-conservative Islamic leader, and his political opposition has mired the nation in political turmoil. The deputy speaker threw out the opposition’s no-confidence resolution after Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry accused the opposition of colluding with a foreign power to stage a “regime change.”
Khan, who was not in parliament, went on national television to say he would ask Pakistan’s president to dissolve the body and hold elections. “I ask people to prepare for the next elections. Thank God, a conspiracy to topple the government has failed,” Khan said in his address.
The opposition arrived in Parliament ready to vote Khan out of power. They needed a simple majority of 172 votes in Pakistan’s 342-seat parliament to unseat Khan. His small but key coalition partners along with 17 of his own party members joined the opposition to oust him.
The political turmoil also caused the country’s security agencies to lock down the capital of Islamabad.
Political chaos also spread to the country’s largest Punjab province where it is set to vote for a new chief minister. Khan’s choice faced a tough challenge and his opponents claimed they had enough votes to install their choice.
With 60% of Pakistan’s 220 million people living in Punjab, it is considered the most powerful of the country’s four provinces. Also on Sunday the government announced the dismissal of the provincial governor, whose role is largely ceremonial and is chosen by the federal government. But it further deepened the political turmoil in Pakistan.
Pakistan’s main opposition parties, whose ideologies span the spectrum from left to right to radically religious, have been rallying for Khan’s ouster almost since he was elected in 2018.
Khan’s win was mired in controversy amid widespread accusations that Pakistan’s powerful army helped his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party to victory.
With agency inputs
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