Pakistan political crisis: SC adjourns hearing on National Assembly deputy speaker’s ruling till tomorrow
According to experts, if Imran Khan gets a favourable SC ruling, elections will take place within 90 days. If the SC rules against the deputy speaker, Parliament will reconvene and hold the no-confidence vote against Khan, experts said.
FollowThe Pakistan Supreme Court on Wednesday adjourned the suo moto hearing into the case relating to the ongoing constitutional crisis in the country that emerged after the ruling of the NA deputy speaker and the subsequent dissolution of the lower house on the advice of PM Imran Khan till Thursday, April 7.
“No-confidence motion is a constitutional process. Does the speaker have the authority to sabotage a constitutional process?” asked Chief Justice Bandial
Ali Zafar, representing President Arif Alvi, questioned the court’s jurisdiction behind 'taking up the opposition’s case’.
Justice Bandial questioned the basis on which the deputy speaker issued the ruling
According to experts, if Imran Khan gets a favourable SC ruling, elections will take place within 90 days. If the SC rules against the deputy speaker, Parliament will reconvene and hold the no-confidence vote against Khan, experts said.
Earlier, the SC restrained state institutions from taking any extra-constitutional steps and directed them to act strictly in accordance with the Constitution, besides asking all political forces of the country to remain peaceful.
Earlier on Sunday, after the opposition parties moved a no-confidence motion in the National Assembly to dethrone Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri rejected the motion, calling it ‘unconstitutional’.
President Arif Alvi then dissolved the National Assembly on the advice of Prime Minister Imran Khan, whose party has lost the majority in the 342-member lower house of Parliament.
Meanwhile, in a dramatic move, Pakistan's Opposition approved a 'no-confidence motion' against Prime Minister Imran Khan in its own session of Parliament after it was dissolved by President Arif Alvi and declared that the no-trust motion was "successful" with nearly 200 votes.
The Opposition declared the proceedings legal and valid although it was conducted without the secretariat staff support and even without the sound system, it said.
They declared the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Khan successful with 197 votes.
