Political confrontation

Letter April 18, 2022
Political confrontation

RAWALPINDI:

After a week of political commotion, the dust has not yet settled as events continue to happen. We witnessed a no-confidence motion presented by the combined opposition against Prime Minister Imran Khan in the National Assembly on 8 March. The voting which was supposed to take place on 3 April was dismissed by the Deputy Speaker who cited Article 5, raising questions on the loyalty of the opposition parties.

However, the Supreme Court took a suo motu notice of the matter and after five days of hearing issued its judgement spread over eight pages. The five-judge bench, led by the Chief Justice, ordered the reinstatement of the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan. After a whole lot of drama — involving delaying tactics by the government, followed by what media reports describe as some behind the scenes intervention — the voting started at the eleventh hour of the day the whole process had to complete in line with the order of the top court. The Prime Minister was thus ousted from the office — with 174 votes polled against him.

The confrontation has, however, not died down. The PTI has tendered resignation from the National Assembly en bloc, and the party chairman is raising questions on the role of powerful state institutions in public rallies being attended by his supporters in huge numbers. It goes without saying that the country cannot afford political instability, especially at a time when the economic situation is dangerously poor.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, April 18th, 2022.

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