Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf has filed a review petition in the Pakistan Supreme Court seeking a recall of its April 7 order to go ahead with a trust vote the interim PM had tried to duck last week by dissolving the parliament.
The review petition, a copy of which has been accessed by News18, says the April 7 order is “based on errors floating on the surface”.
“Order is based on errors floating on the surface, therefore, the impugned order may kindly be recalled and the captioned causes be dismissed/discharged,” it says, further seeking a suspension of the order’s implementation, that is a stay on the trust vote.
The petition contends that the parliament isn’t answerable in the exercise of its powers to the judiciary.
“The Apex Court has erred to appreciate the mandate of the Constitution which ensures that the Parliament as well as the members/officers thereof, the President as well as the Prime Minister are not answerable in exercise of their discretionary powers and functions before any Court nor their discharge of constitutional obligations can be called into question before any court under the Constitution.”
The entire jurisdiction exercised by the Honourable Bench of the Apex Court is in violation of Article 175 of the Constitution, it says.
Pakistan’s parliament, meanwhile, reconvened after a lengthy delay on Saturday afternoon to take up a planned vote on ousting Imran Khan as political uncertainty continued to grip the nuclear-armed country.
The cricket star-turned-politician has vowed to “struggle” against any move to replace him, the latest twist in a crisis that has threatened political and economic stability in the South Asian nation of 220 million people.
Khan’s party and allies had blocked a similar no-confidence vote last Sunday, but the country’s Supreme Court ruled that move unconstitutional, ordering parliament to reconvene.
Before the adjournment on Saturday, opposition leader Shahbaz Sharif, expected to become prime minister if Khan is ousted, addressed the assembly, urging Speaker Asad Qaiser, a Khan ally, to ensure the vote was carried out as a matter of priority.
But voting could be put off further as the government pressed for a discussion on the so-called “foreign conspiracy” against it. Addressing the house, Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi signalled nearing the end of the saga, saying it could be his last day as Foreign Minister.
“The nation will decide. Forget that I am speaking as a member of PTI. I am speaking as a Pakistani now, please don’t push this country into a constitutional crisis,” he said.
“We have a long standing relationship with America… India abstained vote in UNGA, UNSC, IAEA & other forums, but United States is looking both Pakistan and India with different lenses,” he added.
In an impassioned speech on Friday, Khan had doubled down on his accusations that his opponents colluded with the United States to unseat him over his foreign policy choices, which often seemed to favour China and Russia and defied US criticism. The US State Department has denied any involvement in Pakistan’s internal politics.
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