The Pakistan government on Sunday issued a notification stating that Imran Khan no longer holds the position of prime minister. The notification signed by Additional Secretary Eazaz A. Dar stated: “Consequent upon dissolution of the National Assembly by the President of Pakistan, in terms of Article 58(1) read with Article 48(1) of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan… Mr Imran Ahmad Khan Niazi ceased to hold the Office of the Prime Minister of Pakistan, with immediate effect.”
Following the notification, Khan will not be eligible to issue any order in the country.
Pakistan’s political crisis deepened earlier on Sunday as the deputy speaker of the Parliament, a member of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), blocked the opposition’s no-confidence motion that Khan was expected to lose.
President Arif Alvi, also from PTI, approved his request to dissolve the Parliament and Khan called on the nation to prepare for fresh elections. Pakistan People’s Party secretary-general Syed Nayyar Hussain Bukhari was among the many who then moved the Supreme Court, alleging the deputy speaker’s act to disallow voting on the motion was a “violation of fundamental rights”.
The Supreme Court, meanwhile, issued a notice to all those who led petitions against the dissolving of Parliament after Imran Khan skirted the no-trust motion, and adjourned the hearing till Monday. The petitions have been led by the Supreme Court Bar Association, Bar Council, secretary defence, secretary interior, advocate general of Punjab and all political parties that moved the SC.
A notice has also been issued to Attorney General Khalid Jawed Khan. The five-member bench headed by Chief Justice has directed the secretary, defence and secretary, interior to maintain law and order in the country, urging citizens to maintain peace.
The court also rejected the request for an interim stay on the move and called for records of Sunday’s dissolution of the National Assembly.
The political turmoil caused the country’s security agencies to lock down the capital of Islamabad. Political chaos also spread to the country’s largest Punjab province where it is set to vote for a new chief minister.
Pakistan’s main opposition parties, whose ideologies span the spectrum from left to right to radically religious, have been rallying for Khan’s ouster almost since he was elected in 2018. Khan’s win was mired in controversy amid widespread accusations that Pakistan’s powerful army helped his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf to victory.
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