All eyes were on the Pakistani Supreme Court hearing on Monday as it was expected to declare its verdict on Sunday’s ruling by the deputy speaker of the parliament Qasim Suri had not only disallowed the no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Khan, he had followed his ruling with a recommendation for the dissolution of the House, much to the consternation of the Shehbaz Sharif, the leader of the combined opposition.
But the 5 judges bench headed by the Chief Justice adjourned the court after about 3 hours of hearing till Tuesday.
Adopting a seemingly neutral position, the Bench said that since the cases are related to the proceedings of the Parliament and ruling of the speaker, they would like to hear both sides before issuing a “reasonable” order.
Earlier, the opposition had asked for the full bench hearing but when they were told that it would delay proceedings further, the opposition relented. During the hearing one of the judges
remarked that Prima Facie, the Deputy Speaker had exceeded his brief. Meanwhile, the Pakistani President Arif Alvi has started the process to appoint a caretaker prime minister of Pakistan—a move that is expected to favour Prime Minister Khan, who is desperate to avoid the humiliation of a no-confidence vote and is seeking early elections as his political lifeline.
Late Sunday night, President Alvi, after dissolving the house, sent letters to Prime Minister Khan and the outgoing leader of the opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif to seek suggestions for the appointment, reports Geo News.
صدر مملکت عارف علوی نے عبوری وزیر اعظم نامزد کرنے کے طریقہ کار سے متعلق تشریح کی ہے۔ pic.twitter.com/y0zsgEgvPI
— Tahir Khan (@taahir_khan) April 4, 2022
The letter says that the outgoing PM and the leader of opposition will send suitable names and the President will appoint a caretaker prime minister in consultation with both the leaders.
The letter, citing the different sections of Pakistani constitution, says that “if the PM and leader of opposition do not agree on a person to be a caretaker prime minister within three days of the dissolution of the National assembly, each one of them will send two names to the parliamentary committee responsible for appointing a caretaker prime minister. The eight-member parliamentary committee, comprising National Assembly and Senate members, with equal representation from the government and Opposition, will be formed by the speaker.”
The letter also said that Imran Khan’s PTI will continue as the prime minister of Pakistan despite being de-notified as the premier, till the appointment of a caretaker prime minister.
Khan was de-notified as the prime minister of Pakistan earlier on Sunday by the Cabinet Division, after the dissolution of the National Assembly. However, on what legal basis did the President agree with Deputy Speaker’s recommendation of dissolving the House, when Khan was facing a no-confidence motion is far from clear. Did the President exceed his brief, and will the Supreme Court cover this possible breach in its hearing tomorrow remains to be seen?
While Imran Khan has suggested former Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Gulzar Ahmed for the post of caretaker Prime Minister, the combined opposition has refused to forward any name, saying that “matter” is in the apex court of the country and will decide after the verdict.
صدر مملکت کے خط کے جواب میں تحریک انصاف کور کمیٹی سے مشورے اور منظوری کے بعد وزیر اعظم عمران خان نے سابق چیف جسٹس پاکستان جسٹس گلزار احمد کا نام نگران وزیر اعظم کیلئے تجویز کیا ہے
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) April 4, 2022
At a press conference on Monday, the opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif blamed PM Imran Khan, his aides, the speaker and the deputy speaker of the house and the President for violating the constitution and demanded that all these should be tried for treason.
“It is nothing short of high treason. Imran Khan Niazi has pushed the country into anarchy. Niazi and his cohort will not be allowed to go scot-free. There will be consequences for blatant & brazen violation of the Constitution. Hope SC will play its role to uphold the Constitution,” Sharif told the media.
“In violation of the court’s orders, the prime minister and the president have taken extra-constitutional steps,” he said that if something was against Article 5 of the Constitution then why the speaker approved the tabling of the no-confidence motion against PM Imran on March 24.
"We hope that the higher judiciary will not repeat the mistakes of the past and during this constitutional crisis, a full court bench will sit and decide this case,” said Chairman Pakistan People’s Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari
“ہمیں امید ہے کہ اعلی عدلیہ ماضی کی غلطیاں دوبارہ نہیں دہرائے گی اور اس آئینی بحران کے دوران فل کورٹ بینچ بیٹھ کر اس کیس کا فیصلہ سنائے گا۔”
چیئرمین پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی بلاول بھٹو زرداری@BBhuttoZardari
3/3 pic.twitter.com/nYYdYexh1p— PPP (@MediaCellPPP) April 4, 2022
Now the ball is in the court of the SC, which will be looking into the deputy speaker’s actions and the dissolution of assemblies, legal opinion has come in almost immediately, many terming Imran Khan’s actions an ‘abrogation’ of the constitution.
