Pakistan’s top court to meet as PM Khan face no-confidence vote

Pakistan’s top court will meet on Monday, to decide on the fate of Prime Minister Imran Khan, after his party blocked a no-confidence vote and he dissolved parliament in a surprise move to prevent his ouster.

Former cricket star Khan, lost his majority in parliament last week as his opponents built their support, and he was facing a no-confidence motion tabled by the opposition on Sunday.

However, the deputy speaker of parliament, a member of Khan’s party, blocked the motion that Khan had widely been expected to lose, ruling it was part of a foreign conspiracy and unconstitutional.
“The move throws the nuclear-armed nation, which the military has ruled for almost half its history, into a full-blown constitutional crisis, with opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif calling the blocking of the vote nothing short of high treason.

“The largely ceremonial head of state, President Arif Alvi, said that Khan would stay on as prime minister in a caretaker role.”

Khan wants a general election within 90 days, though that decision officially rests with the president and the election commission.

The Supreme Court is due meet at 1 p.m. (0800 GMT) to begin its deliberation.
It could order parliament be reconstituted, call for a new election, or bar Khan from standing again if he is found to have acted unconstitutionally.

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Reuters