Testing Times for Pak: Prez Alvi to Soon Ask PM Sharif to Face Vote of Confidence, Says Imran Khan

Pakistan may soon be at the centre of another political and constitutional crisis, even as its finances are in the doldrums.

President Arif Alvi will soon ask Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to face a vote of confidence, said ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan, as he stepped up efforts to press the government for snap polls.

“Shehbaz Sharif tested us in Punjab and now it’s his turn to prove whether he enjoys a majority in the National Assembly or not," Khan said during a media interaction and also in an interview on Hum News TV on Saturday.

In a tit-for-tat move for his ouster from the PM post, Khan said: “In the first, Shehbaz will be tested for a trust vote… and later we have other plans for him."

The chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) cited differences in the federal coalition as the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) threatened to quit over the issue of local body polls in Karachi and Hyderabad. Khan said the party would thrash out the details of the move in a party meeting on Sunday and carry out full planning for not only the trust vote, but also “other plans to fully thrust them in a testing situation now".

President Alvi belongs to Khan’s PTI and the federal coalition is surviving on a very thin majority. MQM-P has seven members in the National Assembly, if it decides to quit the Shehbaz government cannot survive. Alvi said that he will follow the Constitution if asked to take a “vote of confidence" from PM Sharif.

Khan has already said that he will sacrifice both Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies to push the federal government to announce snap polls. Khan says only fresh polls can steer the country out of the economic crisis. The federal government, however, insists that general elections will be held after the completion of the tenure of the government in August.

PUNJAB ASSEMBLY

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Punjab Assembly has automatically been dissolved on Saturday after the province’s Governor Balighur Rehman refused to sign the summary sent by Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi to disband the provincial legislature.

Elahi, a joint candidate of PTI and the PML-Q, signed the dissolution of the Punjab Assembly summary hours after he managed to obtain a vote of confidence. On January 12, CM Elahi had formally advised the governor to dissolve the provincial legislature hours after retaining the confidence of a majority of lawmakers in the Assembly. According to article 112 of constitution of Pakistan, if the CM has advised the Governor to dissolve the Assembly and he doesn’t act on his advice, the assembly stands dissolved after 48 hours.

KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA ASSEMBLY

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan announced that he would be dissolving the KP assembly by evening. However, Khan said the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly will be dissolved in a couple of days. Khan was ousted from power in April last year through a vote of no-confidence.

PREP MODE

Meanwhile, PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif presided over a party meeting in Lahore on Saturday evening through a video link from London where he has been living in a self-exile since November 2019.

“Nawaz Sharif has directed the party leaders and workers to start preparations for elections in Punjab. He also asked PM Shehbaz Sharif to constitute a parliamentary board for the award of tickets," PMLN spokesperson and Federal Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said.

FUTURE TENSE

Now the polls in Punjab and KP will have to be held within 90 days of Punjab and KP assemblies’ dissolution, which would lead to a situation in which these elections will be completely out of sync with those for the National Assembly — unless Khan’s opponents miraculously accept his demand and simultaneously hold the general election.

The provincial assemblies’ premature dissolution will raise several legal questions that would need to be settled before elections in the two provinces are held. For example, general elections must be held around the same time.

Also, what will happen to the governments which will come into power in the two provinces after premature provincial assembly polls?

With PTI Inputs

Read all the Latest News here