Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan speaks at the start of a two-day gathering of the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation, at the Parliament House in Islamabad, Pakistan, March 22, 2022. (RAHMAT GUL / AP)
ISLAMABAD – Pakistan's top court adjourned on Monday without deciding on the legality of Prime Minister Imran Khan actions in blocking an opposition attempt to oust him, a move that has led to political turmoil in the nuclear-armed nation.
Khan, a former cricket star, lost his majority in parliament last week as his opponents built support in advance of a vote of no-confidence that had been due on Sunday.
If Prime Minister Imran Khan prevails, polls will happen within 90 days. The opposition also wants an early election, albeit after delivering a political defeat to Khan by ousting him through a parliamentary vote
Prime Minister Imran Khan, a former cricket star, lost his majority in parliament last week as his opponents built support in advance of a vote of no-confidence that had been due on Sunday
But the deputy speaker of parliament, a member of Khan's party, threw out the no-confidence motion that Khan had been widely expected to lose, ruling it was part of a foreign conspiracy and unconstitutional. Khan then dissolved parliament.
Pakistan's opposition has challenged Khan's decision in a legal case that began on Monday, with a five-member Supreme Court bench hearing arguments in a packed courtroom.
The court failed to come to a verdict during the three-hour hearing and will return on Tuesday.
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"The ruling was unlawful – why?" Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial told lawyers for Pakistan's opposition.
Whatever the Supreme Court decides, Pakistan looks to be heading for a fresh election before the completion of the current term of the parliament and the prime minister in 2023.
If Khan prevails, polls will happen within 90 days. The opposition also wants an early election, albeit after delivering a political defeat to Khan by ousting him through a parliamentary vote.
Opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif called the blocking of the vote "nothing short of high treason".
Election In 90 Days?
Khan also dissolved the cabinet and wants a general election within 90 days, although that decision officially rests with the president and the election commission, and depends on the outcome of the court hearing.
The largely ceremonial head of state, President Arif Alvi, said in a statement that Khan would stay on as prime minister in an interim role until a caretaker prime minister was appointed under whom a general election would be held.
Alvi wrote to both Khan and Sharif, asking them to put forward names for a caretaker prime minister within three days, the president's office said in a statement.
But whether an election will happen depends largely on the outcome of the legal proceedings.
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The Supreme Court could order that parliament be reconstituted, call for a new election, or bar Khan from standing again if he is found to have acted unconstitutionally.
The court could also decide that it cannot intervene in parliamentary affairs.
Khan says he did not act unconstitutionally, calling the move to oust him a plot orchestrated by the United States – a claim Washington denies.