Pakistani opposition challenges .. What after the refusal of no-confidence against Imran Khan?

ISLAMABAD -

The Pakistani opposition has demanded the Supreme Court to intervene to end the constitutional crisis, after Pakistani President Arif Alvi's decision to dissolve Parliament at the request of Prime Minister Imran Khan and call for early elections within 90 days, shortly after Parliament dropped a draft resolution of no-confidence against the president. Ministers.

Opposition lawyers have asked the Supreme Court to intervene over what they say is a violation of the constitution by Imran Khan and his party.

It is known that Sunday is an official holiday in Pakistan, and the court is closed, but the court opened its doors today in order to consider the case.

Political analyst Fazal Bangash says that the final decision is now in the hands of the Supreme Court, which will decide on the matter and decide whether the parliament's decision agrees with the constitution and the law or not.

"Pakistan's constitution has been jeopardized again, this time by a political party, and in the future people will continue to ignore the constitution according to their own interests," Bangash adds.

And Qasim Khan Suri, Deputy Speaker of the Pakistani Parliament, announced in an event that surprised everyone - led by members of the opposition - the cancellation and rejection of the vote of no-confidence against Prime Minister Imran Khan because of what he described as the proposed connection to the foreign plot, according to ARY News. Pakistani.

Imran Khan will continue his duties as caretaker prime minister (Reuters)

Prior to that, the joint opposition had submitted a motion of no-confidence against the Speaker of the National Assembly (Parliament) Asad Caesar, before voting on the motion of no-confidence against Imran Khan;

Which made the deputy speaker of the Council of the ruling Pakistan Equity Party chair the session of the National Assembly to vote on the no-confidence in Khan.

According to The News International, the deputy speaker's decision came after the Minister of Law, Fouad Chaudhry, stated to Parliament that the opposition's attempt to overthrow the movement's government is supported by a foreign power and contradicts the constitution.

This was approved by the deputy speaker of parliament, and according to the channel "Ari News", the deputy speaker of parliament said that "the points raised by the Minister of Law are correct and the memorandum of no confidence against the constitution, under Article 5."

The Pakistani capital, Islamabad, witnessed strict security measures, as Geo News channel reported a statement issued by the deputy commissioner in Islamabad that the red zone was closed with large containers and barbed wire with tight security measures in the capital.

The local administration and the Islamabad district judge also banned "all kinds of gatherings of 5 or more people, processions (parades) and demonstrations inside the red zone."

Speaking to the media, PPP Chairman Bilawal said the deputy speaker had committed an "unconstitutional act" by rejecting the no-confidence motion against Khan.

The Pakistan People's Party said that the joint opposition decided to sit in Parliament until their constitutional demand is accepted, which is a vote on the motion of no-confidence.

Dissolution of parliament and government

As the session ended, the Prime Minister in his speech described the motion of no-confidence against him as a "foreign agenda", and congratulated the nation on the motion, which was rejected in the National Assembly.

"It was a foreign agenda," Khan said. "I want to tell people not to be upset, God is looking at the nation."

After the vote of no confidence in the prime minister failed, Khan recommended to the country's president to dissolve parliament, and Pakistani President Arif Alvi agreed to Imran Khan's recommendation to dissolve parliament, Ari News channel reported.

Additionally, the Cabinet has been dissolved, and Information Minister Fuad Chaudhry said in a tweet on Twitter that under Article 224 of the constitution, the Prime Minister will continue to perform his duties while the Federal Cabinet is dissolved.

Writer and political analyst Hudhayfa Farid says, "The government has now been dissolved, and the prime minister will remain in office to take over what can be described as a 'caretaker' government until the next elections."

Commenting on this, journalist and political analyst Javed Rana said that Imran Khan has lost the majority and does not want opposition leader Shahbaz Sharif to take over the prime ministership after him because he believes that he follows American policies, and that they will have "a special agenda in Pakistan if Sharif takes over the government."

Protests by opposition supporters after parliament dropped a draft motion of no-confidence against Imran Khan (Reuters)

The future of the crisis

During his televised address after the failed vote of no-confidence, Khan said that "the nation must prepare for the upcoming elections".

According to Pakistani sources and some media outlets, the elections will take place within 90 days.

But so far, things seem somewhat unclear regarding the future of the crisis, and if the Pakistani parliament's decision, which was issued hours ago, will be implemented once and for all.

Commenting on this, Javed Rana said, "It is all about the decision of the Supreme Court, which is considering the decision now."

Imran Khan seems insistent on the proposal he made two days ago to hold early elections, as he emphasized this in his recommendations to the country's president.

Commenting on this, Hudhayfa Farid believes that the dissolution of Parliament and the government and the holding of early elections are the "big opportunity" for Imran Khan now to gain more popularity in Pakistan.

Farid adds that electronic voting and expatriate voting give a great chance for Imran Khan to win the upcoming elections and get a majority of up to two-thirds of Parliament as he promised in his last speech.

Javed Rana also said that Khan has become popular because of his frequent talk of foreign (US) conspiracy, so the Prime Minister believes he will succeed in the new elections.

As for the position of the army, Hudhayfa Farid says that the army has explicitly taken a neutral stance, and has not supported any of the parties to the crisis so far, and this has been its position since the beginning of the crisis.

On the other hand, Javed Rana, despite his assertion of the army's neutrality in the current scene, said that the army behind the scenes made political events to support the opposition parties, and said that the army was enjoying the so-called "loyalty tests".

"I think the army does not want to take sides," Rana added.

Whether it is Chinese or Russia, but I think he prefers to return to the American square.

Rana said that in the event that Parliament is re-established by the Supreme Court, a vote of no-confidence will be taken again, but nothing is clear so far, and we are waiting for the court's decision.