Khan takes the battle to people’s court

There were enough twists and turns in the political developments in Pakistan National Assembly (PNA) followed by Prime Minister Imran Khan’s advise to President Dr Arif Alvi. And articles of the Constitution were invoked to press forward the movement. The Opposition had moved a resolution against the National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser under paragraph (c) clause (7) of Article 53 of the Constitution and Rule 12 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business, 2007. So, Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri invoked Article 5 (1) of the Constitution to throw the no-confidence motion moved by the opposition on March 8. Article 5 (1) mandates that loyalty to the state is the basic duty of the citizen and that obedience to the Constitution and law is paramount.

Prior to the dismissal of the motion, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry provided the ground as to why the no-confidence motion was to be thrown out. He told the PNA in his intervention: “On Match 7, our official ambassador was invited to a meeting attended by representatives of other countries. The meeting was told that a motion against PM Imran Khan was being presented.” He said that the motion was moved on March 8, implying that there was prior information with the foreign government, which was not named, and neither the other representatives nor the countries they represented were named. Chaudhry went to say what transpired in the meeting: “We were told that relations with Pakistan were dependent on the success of the no-confidence motion. We were told that if the motion fails, then Pakistan’s path would be very difficult. This is an operation for a regime change by a foreign government.”

Soon after, Prime Minister Khan recommended to President Alvi to dissolve the National Assembly under Article 58 of the Constitution, which the President had accepted. Prime Minister Khan will now function as caretaker prime minister under Article 224 of the Constitution. Elections are to be held within 90 days of the dissolution of the National Assembly. The elections were due in August 2023. Soon after his advise to the President, Prime Minister Khan told the nation in an address: “Prepare for election. No corrupt forces will decide what the future of the country will be. When the assemblies will be dissolved the procedure for the next elections and the caretaker government will begin.”

The opposition leaders are angry at the government’s move. They said they will approach the Supreme Court to challenge the constitutional validity of invoking Article 5 (1) to dismiss the no-confidence motion in the National Assembly. Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari tweeted: “Government has violated constitution. Did not allow voting on no-confidence motion. The united opposition is not leaving Parliament. Our lawyers are on their way to Supreme Court.” And leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) tweeted: “It is nothing short of a high treason. IK (Imran Khan) has pushed the country into anarchy…Hope SC (Supreme Court) will play its role to uphold the Constitution.”

The constitutional and political battle in Pakistan is being fought with great zeal on both sides. Prime Minister Imran Khan believes that he is battling to save Pakistan from corrupt politicians, while the opposition has no doubt that Khan is an incompetent politician, and he is leading the country into chaos. The ball is now in the people’s court, and it is the people who will have to decide what they want. The two nagging questions that remain are: which is the country that summoned Pakistan’s “official ambassador” to tell him about the no-confidence motion, and whether the unnamed country will ever come out to declare the truth of the matter.