ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a move by Prime Minister Imran Khan to dissolve the country’s Parliamentand thus avoid a no confidence vote was unconstitutional and ordered parliament be restored.
The court also ordered that the Pakistani Parliament reconvene on April 9 in order to proceed with the no-confidence vote.
Khan’s political opposition has said it has the 172 votes needed in the 340-seat house to oust the prime minister.
The Supreme Court made its decision four days after Khan dissolved Pakistan’s parliament, and called for early elections, triggering a political crisis.
However, the court ruled that the deputy speaker of parliament, Khan ally Qasim Suri, was not within his rights to dissolve parliament.
Last week, Khan lost his parliamentary majority, and was almost certain to be ousted after the opposition gained the necessary support for a no confidence vote.
However, deputy speaker Suri threw out the motion for a vote, claiming it was unconstitutional and accused the opposition of colluding with the United States to remove Khan from power.
A former start cricket player, Khan, 69, came to power in 2018 promising sweeping reforms to eliminate corruption and cronyism.
However, opposition parties blame Khan for economic mismanagement and a crackdown on political opponents and civil society activists.
Since Khan took over, inflation and unemployment have increased sharply in Pakistan.
Khan’s detractors say the prime minister is deflecting his policy failures by claiming Western powers want him removed because he will not stand with them against Russia and China. Washington has denied any interference.
Khan is currently facing the toughest political challenge of his three-and-a-half year tenure as prime minister, with many lawmakers from his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and key coalition allies supporting a no-confidence vote.
Pakistan has been beset by one political crisis after another for much of its 75-year existence, and no Pakistani prime minister has ever completed a full term. — (Agencies)