The latest | the impeachment of Prime Minister Imran Khan by the Pakistani parliament, what is the latest situation?

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Edit | Ye Weijie Chen Anlan

Introduction

Recently, the Pakistani opposition jointly launched a motion of no confidence in Prime Minister Imran Khan. On March 28, the motion was passed in Pakistan's National Assembly and will be voted on by final vote on April 3. Subsequently, the two sides engaged in a fierce political confrontation: on the side of the ruling party, Prime Minister Imran Khan convened a rally for several days, declaring that the opposition action was interfered with by foreign forces and calling for the maintenance of national sovereignty and independence. On the opposition side, the coalition opposition led by Shebaz Sharif has continued to fight for strength – the Balochistan People's Party, the United National Movement Party of Pakistan and other coalition ruling parties have announced their withdrawal from the ruling coalition to join the opposition camp – and announced that they will eventually win a parliamentary majority, putting unprecedented pressure on imran Khan's government. On the day of the vote, the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, after hearing the Minister of Information's statement on foreign interference, announced that the motion of no confidence in the vote was rejected on the grounds of unconstitutionality, ending the dispute in a "rather unexpected" manner. But the struggle is still unending. Imran Khan delivered a victory speech and took advantage of the victory to chase the dissolution of parliament to hold an early general election; the opposition camp collectively protested to seek a Supreme Court ruling. How will the political strife in Pakistan develop? In view of this, the South Asian Studies Group has excerpted an article from the website of Pakistan's Dawn newspaper for critical reference.

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Shocking! On April 3, after opposition parties filed a motion of no confidence in Speaker Asad Qaiser, Qasim Khan Suri, deputy speaker of Pakistan's Suri National Assembly, presided over the meeting to dismiss a motion of no confidence in Prime Minister Imran Khan, saying it violated Article 5 of the Constitution.

According to Article 5 of the Constitution of Pakistan:

1. Loyalty to the State is a fundamental duty of every citizen.

2. Compliance with the Constitution and laws is the [inviolable] duty of every citizen, wherever he or she may be, and it is also the obligation of every other individual temporarily remaining in the territory of Pakistan.

However, this was not the only "surprise" of the day for the opposition. Shortly after the motion of no confidence was dismissed, Imran Khan announced that he had proposed that the president dissolve Parliament under Article 58 of the Constitution, which means new elections will be held in Pakistan.

Shortly after the start of the National Assembly, Pakistan's Minister of Information, Fawad Chaudhry, said that loyalty to the state is a fundamental duty of every citizen under Article 5, Paragraph 1, of the Constitution. He reiterated the prime minister's earlier assertion that foreign conspiracies were behind the overthrow of the government. "On March 7, our official ambassadors were invited to a meeting attended by representatives of other countries," he said. At that meeting, they were informed that a motion of no confidence against Prime Minister Imran was being introduced. "And that happened exactly the day before the opposition formally filed a motion of no confidence."

"We have been told that diplomatic relations with Pakistan depend on the success of the no-confidence motion. And if the motion fails, then Pakistan's path will be very difficult. This is the manipulation of regime change by foreign governments. Chowdhury questioned how such an incident could be allowed to arise and called on the Deputy Speaker to rule on the constitutionality of the motion of no confidence.

Suri noted that the motion, which was introduced on March 8, should be consistent with the law and the Constitution. He said no foreign power would be allowed to plot to overthrow the democratically elected government and acknowledged that Chowdhury's views were "valid." On 3 April, he dismissed the motion, ruling that it violated the law, the Constitution and the rules. The meeting was then suspended.

The opposition parties, angered by the procedure in the National Assembly, decided to convene a meeting on their own in the lower house of parliament, with Ayaz Sadik of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz faction) sitting on the speaker's seat. Sherry Rehman of the Pakistan People's Party said 195 MPs voted for the no-confidence motion under the party's procedures.

I. "The opposition cannot do without Parliament"

Meanwhile, The Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Sheikh Baz Sharif, called the April 3 development "tantamount to treason." "Imran Khan has pushed the country into anarchy," he said. Niazi and his associates will not be allowed to go unpunished. Flagrant violations of the Constitution will have consequences. It is hoped that the Supreme Court will play its part in upholding the Constitution. ”

Bilawal-Bhutto Zardari, chairman of the Pakistan People's Party, said the government did not allow a vote on motions of no confidence, which was in violation of the constitution. He said: "The coalition opposition will not leave Parliament. Our lawyers are on their way to the Supreme Court. We call on all institutions to protect, uphold, defend and enforce the Constitution of Pakistan. ”

Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar of the Pakistan People's Party also called the government's move a "flagrant violation" of the constitution and rules. He said the Supreme Court cannot and should not just stand idly by. The Chief Justice should appear immediately to save the country from the constitutional crisis. He tweeted that party leaders Farooq Naek and Raza Rabbani were preparing a petition. "We should be at the Supreme Court registry by 3:30 p.m.," he said. ”

Maryam Nawaz, vice chairman of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), said no one can "distort" the constitution in order to keep their seat. She claimed that if this crazy fanatic is not punished for this crime, then the country after today will follow the law of the law of the jungle. Ahsan Iqbal of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) said Prime Minister Imran Khan had proved to the world that he did not have even the slightest bit of decency, grace and honor left. After losing his majority in the National Assembly, he chose to be blatantly unconstitutional. He will be defeated in humiliation unprecedented in history. ”

2. The Deputy Prosecutor General announces his resignation

In addition, Pakistan's deputy attorney general, Raja Khalid Mahmood Khan, announced his resignation in the National Assembly on April 3. He lashed out at the government, saying it was "repealing the Constitution in full view of the public" and already involved article VI treason. In an interview with Geo News, he said that the replacement of rules and laws is a flagrant violation of the Constitution. He claimed the Supreme Court would act and invalidate the Resolution of the National Assembly. He also predicted that the Supreme Court would rule that the motion of no confidence remained pending.

Thirdly, the opposition has won 174 parliamentary seats

The coalition opposition, led mainly by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) and the Pakistan People's Party, submitted a motion of no confidence in the prime minister's ouster to the Secretariat of the National Assembly on March 8. In the days that followed, Pakistan's political landscape plunged into turmoil as political parties and individuals continued to change their alliances. Pakistan's JEM party and the opposition are fighting in this "no-confidence race" while blaming each other. Eventually, the main allies of the ruling JEM party, the Balochistan People's Party and the National Unity Party, left the ruling coalition and joined the opposition, causing Imran Khan to lose his majority in the lower house of parliament.

If the vote continues, Imran Khan will lose the trust of the House of Representatives, while the coalition opposition has nominated Shebaz Sharif as his prime ministerial candidate.

On April 3, opposition MPs appeared confident in the success of the no-confidence motion as they headed to the Capitol. The opposition needs the support of 172 of at least 342 MPs to overthrow the prime minister through a motion of no confidence. According to a list shared by Marriyum Aurangzeb, a member of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), the opposition managed to break through the key figure of 172, claiming to have the support of 174 members of the National Assembly.

This article is excerpted from an April 3, 2022 article on the Dawn website, titled NA speaker dismisses no-trust move against PM Imran, terms itcontradictory to Article 5

Editors of this issue: Ye Weijie Chen Anlan

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