ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan will meet his top advisors and cabinet and address the nation today, Friday, a day after the Pakistani Supreme Court said the dissolution of the National Assembly last week by the Khan-led government and a ruling by the deputy speaker not to allow voting on a no-confidence motion against the premier were both “unconstitutional.”
The closely-watched verdict solves a constitutional wrangle that has plagued the country since Sunday, when the deputy speaker of the National Assembly, Qasim Suri, disallowed a no-trust vote that would have likely seen Khan booted from office. The president then dissolved the lower house of parliament on Khan’s advice.
But in a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court said the deputy speaker’s Sunday ruling was “contrary to the Constitution and the law and of no legal effect.” The court said the subsequent dissolution of the National Assembly was therefore also unconstitutional.
The court also ordered National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser to summon a session on Saturday, April 9, at 10am, to allow voting on the no-confidence motion. It said no lawmaker would be blocked from casting his or her vote.
In response, Khan said he had called a cabinet and a parliamentary meeting.
“Tomorrow [Friday] evening I will address the nation,” Khan said on Twitter. “My message to our nation is I have always & will continue to fight for Pak till the last ball.”
The court has said if Saturday’s no-trust vote prevails, parliament must elect a new PM.
The five-member larger bench — headed by Chief Justice Bandial and comprising Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Aijazul Ahsan, Justice Mazhar Alam, and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel — ruled unanimously.
Ahead of last Sunday's session where the no-trust motion was to be put to vote, Khan had lost his parliamentary majority after major coalition partners announced they would side with the opposition, while over 20 lawmakers belonging to Khan's own party also defected.
