PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Monday urged the Supreme Court to "stop Imran Khan's coup" and form a "full court bench to address the political crisis" in Pakistan.
Addressing a presser in Islamabad, he asserted that what happened in the National Assembly on Sunday was a blatant violation of the Constitution.
"There is one legal way of removing the prime minister — the no confidence motion. Imran Khan, just for the sake of his ego, sabotaged the no-trust process by violating the Constitution."
His remarks come a day after the dismissal of the no-trust motion against Prime Minister Khan on Sunday by outgoing National Assembly deputy speaker Qasim Suri and the subsequent dissolution of the assembly by President Arif Alvi.
Later in the day, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial took notice of the NA deputy speaker's ruling. A five-member bench will resume hearing the case at 1pm.
In the joint-opposition's media talk today, Bilawal called the dismissal of the no-confidence move "suicide for Imran Khan" and his party. Several PPP supporters, he said, were rejoicing at "successfully ousting the government".
"But we will never be happy because we are democratic and constitutional parties," he said, pointing out that today, April 4, marks the date former PM Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was not dispensed justice by the Supreme Court.
"The judiciary failed to provide us justice. Our presidential reference is still pending. The court couldn't stop Zia's coup, it couldn't stop Musharraf's coup ... But we are requesting you: stop Imran Khan's coup.
"Your decision will write the future of the country. It will decide whether our constitution is just a piece of paper or a document that protects the integrity of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan," Bilawal said.
PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif, meanwhile, said that undoubtedly, Article 69 of the Constitution stated that the parliamentary proceedings were protected.
"But if the law is broken in the National Assembly, will no one be accountable for it?"
He added that the he had high hopes from the Supreme Court today and would only talk about matter further after its verdict.
NA proceedings
Shehbaz Sharif also alleged that what happened in the NA session on Sunday was a "planned conspiracy".
"On March 24, the speaker had granted leave to the no-confidence motion. If there was an objection on it under Article 5, why was the leave granted?"
Shehbaz said that the assembly had a system and legal branch. The speaker, he pointed out, tabled the agenda item in Parliament after completing all the legal procedures. "Otherwise, he rejects it in his office only."
The PML-N leader lamented that voting on the resolution had to take place yesterday but "Imran Khan's dishonesty and ill-will came in between and he used the deputy speaker as his accomplice in the crime".
"When we sat in the house yesterday, immediately after the recitation of the Holy Quran, the floor was given to Fawad Chaudhry. He read a paper and God knows what he said. Subsequently, the deputy speaker read aloud from a written order and then left. This means that he [deputy speaker] used Article 5 to dismiss the motion."
The opposition leader claimed that Imran Khan and his people "couldn't face their defeat and therefore compromised democracy and broke the constitution".
"You have seen that the public is going into a vacuum ever since," he said, adding, that the outgoing government had used the word "traitor" as a joke.
Threat letter
Shehbaz also pointed out that former Pakistan Ambassador to the US Asad Khan had been in touch with the US government even after receiving the 'threat letter', which PM Imran Khan called "foreign conspiracy" hatched to topple his government.
He said that Asad had tweeted a thank you note for the US government even after a meeting on March 16. Shehbaz demanded that if a meeting took place on March 7 and if something about a regime change was conveyed that day, why was a meeting called on March 16.
"These are very conflicting things and will haunt the nation for a very long time."
Shehbaz reiterated that if a threat letter was received on March 7, why wasn't Article 5 brought up in the March 24 session of the National Assembly.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1683408/stop-imran-khans-coup-bilawal-urges-supreme-court
