ISLAMABAD -

Once again, Pakistan's Supreme Court steps in to resolve the conflict between political parties;

After it decided last April to overthrow the PTI government and its leader Imran Khan, it came to put an end to the Punjab conflict in favor of Imran Khan's alliance and the Pakistan Muslim League - Quaid-e-Azam Jinnah party.

The court decided on the political battle that the Punjab province witnessed over a period of two weeks, and one of the results of which was the victory of Hamza Shahbaz Sharif as prime minister at the expense of Imran Khan's candidate from the "Muslim League - the Supreme Leader's Wing" party, Pervez Elahi.

During its ruling in the case, the Supreme Court declared that all the appointments made by Hamza Shahbaz Sharif were "illegal", and asked members of his government to vacate their offices, and also ordered the dismissal of all advisors and assistants he appointed from their duties.

Pervez Elahi is scheduled to take the oath as head of the Punjab government before the provincial governor.

The court decided that if the ruler did not swear an oath to my god, then the country's president, Arif Alvi, could do so in his stead.

According to Pakistani media, the oath will take place before President Alavi hours after the court ruling.

Supporters of the PTI and its ally celebrate the Supreme Court's ouster of Hamza Shahbaz Sharif from the presidency of the Punjab provincial government (Al-Jazeera)

chapters of conflict

The chapters of the conflict unfolded with the PTI's victory in the Punjab provincial government elections to occupy 20 seats, which gave the party and its allies the opportunity to oust Hamza Shahbaz Sharif as prime minister.

However, the deputy speaker of Parliament belonging to the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz Sharif's party) canceled 10 votes from the PML-N party.

The Insaf Party received a blow from its ally, the "League Party - Quaid-e-Azam Party", whose leader "Shujaat Hussain Chaudhry" instructed its members of Parliament to abstain from voting, which caused the cancellation of 10 votes from the party, and automatically caused the loss.

The cancellation of the ten votes of deputies from the "Party of the League - Quaid-e-Azam" party, due to the so-called "dissent" from the party's policies, according to Article "63A" of the Pakistani constitution.

While the coalition government led by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif requested the Supreme Court to form a committee that includes a larger number of judges to consider the case, but the court refused, prompting the government coalition to boycott its sessions.


controversy over the law

The use of Article 63A in this case sparked controversy in Pakistan, where Imran Khan and his allies believed that what happened in Parliament was illegal and this prompted them to resort to the Supreme Court, and they won the case.

Meanwhile, the coalition government's opposition and boycott of the court after its refusal to expand the court in the case reflected fears either that the Punjab deputy speaker's decision was illegal from the start, or that the judges were siding with their opponents in the coalition led by Imran Khan.

In the opinion of legal expert Asad Rahim Khan, the decision to cancel the votes of the Pakistan Muslim League - Quaid-e-Azam wing;

Totally illegal actually.

Rahim Khan adds - in an interview with Al-Jazeera Net - that the deputy speaker of parliament did not have such authority to cancel the votes cast according to the direction of the parliamentary party.

According to the legal expert, "Article 63A distinguishes between the parliamentary party and the party leader. The deputy speaker of the House of Representatives was obstructing the delegation of the parliamentary majority. Accordingly, the ruling of the Supreme Court is valid in law as well as in accordance with precedent."

For his part, Osman Ali Khan, associate researcher at the Institute of Strategic Vision in Islamabad, says that if the interpretation of Article 63a remains as it is today, we are likely to see such chaos and uncertainty wherever there is an election or a vote near, which It leads to more political instability and the judicialization of politics.

PTI advanced in the Punjab provincial elections, months after the government of party leader Imran Khan was toppled (French)

Repercussions on the political scene

Since last April, Pakistan has entered into an unusual cycle of complications and wide differences between the parties, and after several months it is still suffering under the weight of this situation, which greatly affected the Pakistani political scene, and was further complicated by the decline in economic conditions to a large extent.

In this context, Osman Ali Khan says, the Supreme Court's decision regarding Article 63A will be a reason for the continuation of the crisis in Punjab.

But, he adds, "the Supreme Court appears to have established itself a much larger role as the primary arbiter in the event of a dispute."

As a result of the prolonged political confrontation and turmoil, the economy has deteriorated from bad to worse in the past few months, and the rupee has depreciated by 20 And its free decline against the dollar continued at a rapid pace.

Hussain goes on to say that with the historic ruling of the Supreme Court, which declared the election of Hamza Shahbaz Sharif to be invalid and illegal, the narrative of the PTI and its leader Imran Khan was strengthened.

In an interview with Al Jazeera Net, he adds that the coalition government's failure to provide an economic road map in the wake of the rapid deterioration of the economic situation has further benefited the Insaf Party's narrative.

In addition, Hussain says it helps Imran Khan in calling for early, free and fair elections.

While only time will tell whether the current government's coalition can keep internal differences out of sight until the next elections.