In a big jolt to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan the Supreme Court reinstated the National Assembly and ordered the no-confidence vote to be carried out on April 9 at 10 a.m.
The court ruled Imran Khan’s move to dissolve parliament was unconstitutional.
Pakistan’s apex court in its order also said that the election commission will decide on when to conduct elections.
The Supreme Court said the Prime Minister cannot ask President to dissolve the assembly since motion against PM is in pending.
A larger bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan declared the Deputy Speaker’s ruling unconstitutional in a unanimous judgment. The court sets aside the ruling and the steps taken after it including the dissolution of the National Assembly.
The five-member bench of Pakistan’s Supreme Court heard arguments from Khan’s lawyers, his opposition, and the country’s president before adjourning Thursday.
After SC’s verdict, Imran Khan tweeted that he will address the nation on Friday night
The opposition welcomed Supreme Court’s judgement with Leader of Opposition (LoP) Shehbaz Sharif saying, “…today would be remembered in Pakistan’s history in golden words. We thank Heads of all opposition parties, colleagues who joined us to speak for truth and rivals who called a spade a spade by listening to their conscience.”
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who is in London, also reacted to the development and said, “I would like to congratulate everyone in the country. People have gotten rid of such a person who ruined the country. He made common people starve. Dollar has reached 200 today and people are frustrated with inflation in the country.”
Earlier, Imran Khan dissolved Parliament on Sunday and set the stage for early elections after accusing his opposition of working with the United States to unseat him. His political opponents had arrived in Parliament with more than the 172 votes needed to oust him, after several members of his own party and a key coalition partner deserted him.
Pakistan’s deputy Parliamentary Speaker, Qasim Suri, was within his rights to dismiss the no-confidence motion.
Suri dismissed the motion after Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, a close ally of Khan’s, accused the opposition of being disloyal to the state by colluding with a foreign power — the United States — to stage a regime change.
The no confidence vote against Prime Minister Khan will now be held on Saturday. If Imran Khan loses, he will be the first Prime Minister to be removed through a no-trust vote.
Two other Prime Ministers against whom a no-confidence motion was called, had resigned before the vote, but former cricket star Khan had refused to step down, insisting that he would “play till the last ball”.
