The final round of a power tussle over Punjab between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and former Prime Minister Imran Khan is underway, and all that can be said with any certainty right now is that we have a bitter contest on our hands.
By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: A power struggle over Punjab is in uncharted legal territory as of Wednesday amid speculation that the country is about to descend into a constitutional crisis over conflicting interpretations of the rulebook by Governor Balighur Rehman and provincial assembly speaker about the chief minister’s vote of confidence.
The conflict stems from former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s determination to dissolve the provincial assembly on December 23, 2022 to push the federal government towards snap polls.
The federal government, headed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and backed by the 11-party Pakistan Democratic Front (PDM) coalition, maintains it will be under no pressure or obligation to announce general election even if one or two provincial assemblies are dissolved.
It nevertheless launched two interlocking moves on Monday, each adequate on its own to strip the Chief Minister of his power to dissolve the assembly.
The first of these was the filing of a vote of no confidence motion in the Assembly. The second move, coming shortly after the first, was the governor’s order for the chief minister to seek a vote of confidence from the Assembly “in terms of Article 130(7)” of the Constitution.
Speaker Punjab Assembly Sibtain Khan, a loyalist of former Prime Minister Imran Khan and a lawmaker of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), however, found the gubernatorial order flawed on the grounds that the Governor had summoned the assembly to session while it was already in session.
The Speaker’s ruling said that an ongoing session of the assembly can only be prorogued or called in line with the Constitution.
Speaker Khan in his ruling said that the court has mandated a notice period of not less than 10 for a vote of confidence. He said that the Governor can call or prorogue an assembly session under Article 109, but that the Governor has not prorogued the ongoing session.
The ruling said that in these circumstances, the governor does not have the authority to call a meeting under the Assembly Rules 209A. It maintained that the governor’s request for a vote of confidence is not valid according to the Constitution.
The Speaker then adjourned the ongoing session of the Punjab Assembly until Friday December 23, precluding the possibility of Chief Minister Pervez Elahi seeking a vote of confidence from the Assembly on Wednesday.
He wrote a letter to the Governor, explaining his positon. On Wednesday, Governor Rehman rejected a letter from Speaker Khan.
An important meeting chaired by Governor Rehman was underway at the Governor’s House through Wednesday afternoon, deliberating over the way forward following the Speaker’s defiance.
Sources close to the meeting say the Governor will issue a follow up order, warning the Chief Minister to secure a vote of confidence.
Independent legal experts say the Speaker cannot block the Governor’s order on a mere technicality. They say summoning of session was a matter of form, and at worst the part of the Governor’s order dealing with the summoning of the session will be considered infructuous, but the order will remain valid and binding.
This is the latest and probably the final round in the power struggle for the throne of Pakistan’s most populous province, and nothing can be said about its outcome with certainty. It is amply clear, however, that every inch of the territory will be bitterly contested.
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