Pakistan's Top Court Allows No-Confidence Vote Against Imran Khan to Proceed, Restores Parliament

Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan has squarely accused the US of nstigating the no-confidence motion against him in order to undermine Islamabad’s “independent foreign policy” under his government. Khan has said that Washington was peeved at his visit to Moscow in February and even threatened him through Islamabad's envoy to the US.

Pakistan's Supreme Court on Thursday declared Prime Minister Imran Khan's decision to dissolve the National Assembly "unconstitutional", thus paving the way for reinstating the federal Parliament.

The court has also called for a session of the National Assembly on Friday morning, where the vote on no-confidence motion against Imran Khan's government is set to take place.

The verdict was delivered by a five-judge bench led by the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial. All the five judges have termed the government's decision as "unconstitutional".

Pakistan’s deputy speaker quashed the no-confidence motion against Khan on 3 April and dissolved the National Assembly, thus paving way for snap elections. The deputy speaker’s decision was taken at the behest of President Arif Alvi, who in turn acted on advice of the Prime Minister.

The arguments in the case had concluded earlier in the day, with the court reserving its verdict for the evening.

While hearing the arguments from both the sides, Bandial remarked earlier in the day that the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government had the “backing” of the country’s constitution and would have succeeded if the deputy speaker Qasim Suri hadn’t dissolved the National Assembly.

He described Suri's ruling as "erroneous" that violated Article 95 of the Constitution.

At the same time, the top court bench has also observed that Article 69 of Pakistan’s constitution prohibited any “interference” in parliamentary proceedings yet it was bound to take suo moto note of the matter as what had happened on 3 April was “unprecedented”.

Bandial had stated that whatever decision is taken must be done in “national interest” and “what happens next” is more important that what has already happened during the ongoing political crisis.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's Attorney General Khalid Jawed Khan didn't defend the deputy speaker's move during the hearing, which entered its fifth day today.

The no-confidence motion was introduced in the National Assembly on 8 March by Opposition leader Shahbaz Sharif, the leader of Pakistani Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N).

The Assembly was convened for voting on the no-confidence motion on 31 March, but was adjourned by the deputy speaker. On the same day, Khan also convened a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC), which comprises Pakistan’s political and military leadership. In the meeting, he presented “evidence” of a “foreign conspiracy” to topple his government.

Later, he delivered a live address to the nation where he inadvertently called out the US for trying to topple his democratically-elected government through a no-confidence motion.

A day before, Prime Minister Khan suffered a major setback after its ally Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) withdrew its support to the government, reducing its strength to 164 in the 342-member house. The opposition parties, on the other hand, enjoyed a combined strength of 177 lawmakers.