ISLAMABAD, Apr 5:
Pakistan’s Supreme Court today sought the record of the proceedings of the National Assembly conducted on the no-confidence motion filed against Prime Minister Imran Khan before adjourning the hearing till tomorrow, prolonging the political and constitutional crisis in the country.
National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri on Sunday ruled that the no-confidence motion was linked with a “foreign conspiracy” to topple the government and hence was not maintainable. Minutes later, President Arif Alvi dissolved the National Assembly on advice of Prime Minister Khan.
The Apex Court within hours took suo moto notice of it and a five-member bench started hearing the case on Monday. The bench is headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and includes Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail.
During the second day of the hearing today, the court directed the Government to present minutes of the proceedings in the National Assembly after the no-confidence motion was presented by the Opposition.
Chief Justice Bandial said that the court did not interfere in matters of State and foreign policy and only wanted to ascertain the constitutionality of the steps taken by the deputy speaker for the dismissal of the no-confidence motion and subsequent dissolution of the National Assembly.
“Our sole focus is on the ruling of the Deputy Speaker…it is our priority to decide on that particular issue,” Chief Justice Bandial was quoted as saying by the local newspaper.
The court, he added, didn’t interfere in the state or foreign policy. “We don’t want to indulge in policy matters.”
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Election Commission has expressed its inability to hold general elections within three months due to legal, constitutional and logistical challenges, according to a media report on Tuesday.
Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Monday adjourned the hearing on the deputy speaker’s decision to reject the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan, who had lost majority in the lower house of Parliament.
According to the Dawn newspaper, a senior official of the Election Commission said due to fresh delimitation of constituencies, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where the number of seats was increased under the 26th Amendment, and bringing district-and constituency-wise electoral rolls in conformity were the major challenges, the preparations for the general elections would require some six months.
“Delimitation is a time-consuming exercise where the law provides for one month’s time just to invite objections,” the report said quoting the official.
The official said procurement of election material, arrangement for ballot papers and appointment and training of polling staff were among the other inherent challenges.
He said that under the law, ballot papers with watermark were to be used which were not available in the country and hence they would have to be imported, and revealed that the top election body had proposed to amend the law to provide for ballot papers with ‘security features’, instead of ‘water mark’, the report said. (Agencies)
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