A jubilant bunch of Pakistan opposition leaders welcomed the landmark verdict by the Supreme Court that put aside the ruling by the deputy speaker to dismiss the no-confidence motion against an embattled PM Imran Khan. They called it one of the “epoch-making” days for constitutional supremacy and lauded the ruling against a “highly incompetent” government.
The Apex Court of Pakistan struck down Assembly’s Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri’s move to dismiss the no-confidence motion against Pakistan Prime Minister. It came as a major blow to Imran Khan who will now have to face the no-confidence vote in parliament.
In the short order, the court said that the ruling of the deputy speaker was not in line with the constitution and the laws. Thus, it had no legal repercussions and had to be set aside.
Furthermore, the Supreme court also called President Alvi’s move to dissolve the Assembly as unconstitutional and illegal because the PM cannot advise the president regarding the dissolution of the assembly because the former continues to stay under the ban imposed under clause (1) of Article 58 of the Pakistani constitution.
Pakistan opposition laud the day after SC’s ruling
Shahbaz Sharif, the brother of ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the most likely candidate to take Imran Khan’s post at the top, called it an “epoch-making” event. He congratulated everyone who campaigned for, defended, and supported Constitutional supremacy, calling it a win for the people of the nation.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President and the daughter of the ex-PM of the country Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz said this verdict was against the ones violating the constitution.
She saw this as the supremacy of the constitution and the end of the violators of the nation’s constitution. She also mentioned that she is praying for Shahbaz Sharif to be the prime minister. Her tweet also congratulated Pakistan on getting rid of the “enemy” of the citizens, and the most inefficient, incompetent, and failed government responsible for Pakistan political crisis.
The verdict of the chief justice of Pakistan
As per Pakistan news, the chief justice said that the verdict of the court was announced after a unanimous decision where all the judges consulted one another.
In the face of the Pakistan constitutional crisis, the verdict of the court was that the government is not allowed to interfere in the participation of an MNA in the national assembly session. The case was heard by a five-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial. The case was also heard by Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel, and Justice Ijazul Ahsan.
The political unrest continues in the country in the meantime. Only time will tell whether the Prime Minister loses the no-confidence motion or not. And if Imran Khan loses the motion, he will be the first PM in the country to go through such a motion. The motion was brought twice previously, but the Prime Ministers had resigned before the motion was passed.