Friday, March 29

CJP takes suo motu notice of situation in country after dissolution of NA – No Confidence


Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial has taken his motu notice of the current situation in the country following the dismissal of a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan by National Assembly (NA) Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri and the subsequent dissolution of the NA by President Arif Alvi, the spokesperson of the apex court said on Sunday.

The weeks-long political turmoil in the country reached its climax today as the NA deputy speaker prorogued a much-awaited sitting of the lower house of parliament without allowing voting on a no-trust motion against PM Imran.

Dismissal of no-trust motion

Suri, who was chairing the session, dismissed the motion in a shock move, terming it against Article 5 of the Constitution, which states that “loyalty to the State is the basic duty of every citizen”.

At the outset of the session, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s Fawad Chaudhry took the floor and referred to the clause, reiterating the premier’s earlier claims that a foreign conspiracy was behind the move to oust the government.

“On March 7, our official ambassador was invited to a meeting attended by the representatives of other countries. The meeting was told that a motion against PM Imran was being presented,” he said, noting that this occurred a day before the opposition formally filed the no-trust move.

“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, “I have alleged.

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The minister questioned how this could be allowed and called on the deputy speaker to decide the constitutionality of the no-trust move.

At that, Suri noted that the motion was presented on March 8 and should be according to the law and the Constitution. “No foreign power shall be allowed to topple an elected government through a conspiracy,” he said, adding that the points raised by the minister were “valid.”

He dismissed the motion, ruling that it was “contradictory” to the law, the Constitution and the rules.

Dissolution of NA

Subsequently, in another shock move, PM Imran, in an address to the nation, said he had advised the president to “dissolve assemblies.”

He also congratulated the nation for the no-trust motion being dismissed, saying the deputy speaker had “rejected the attempt to change the regime [and] the foreign conspiracy”.

The premier further said he had written to the president with advice to dissolve the assemblies, adding that the democrats should go to the public and elections should be held so the people could decide who they wanted in power.

“Prepare for elections. 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,” he added.

President Alvi then dissolved the NA on PM Imran’s advice under Article 58 of the Constitution.


More to follow


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