ISLAMABAD (Al Jazeera) -
Pakistan’s Supreme Court has again delayed its ruling on the legality of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s move to dissolve parliament and call for fresh elections.
A five-judge bench of Pakistan’s top court is hearing multiple petitions challenging Khan’s dissolution of parliament after parliament’s deputy speaker dismissed a no-confidence motion moved by the opposition parties, calling it a foreign conspiracy.
During Wednesday’s proceedings in the top court, advocate Ali Zafar, who was representing President Arif Alvi, questioned the court’s jurisdiction behind taking up the opposition’s case.
Meanwhile, there is uncertainty over whether a crucial session of the Punjab assembly to elect a new chief minister will go ahead.
The provincial assembly in Pakistan’s biggest province was supposed to elect a new leader after the resignation of Usman Buzdar of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party.
The opposition’s candidate, Hamza Shehbaz Sharif, son of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president, has secured the support of a majority of the members of the assembly, including some PTI dissidents.
But the opposition alleges that the PTI is delaying the election by creating procedural hurdles in convening a session of the provincial assembly.
A group of more than 100 academics, civil society representatives and citizens have written an open letter to the Chief Justice of Pakistan “to put forth our grave concerns over the prevailing political and constitutional crisis”.
“We have noted with enormous distress the aggressive and contemptuous manner in which the constitution of Pakistan was violated by the outgoing government,” the letter says.
“This action has brought us to the ignominious juncture where the ‘doctrine of necessity’ is again being invoked by some to suspend due process and violate the fundamental right to vote on the basis of unsubstantiated claims of alleged foreign interference in the political process.”
The letter said the “honor and well-being of our future generations lie on in adherence to the constitution. “Today, we pin all our hopes on your lordship to uphold the constitution and stand by the people of Pakistan in this hour of need,” it said.