Author: Alisha Hussain
Publisher: Hamza Rajput
Designer: Umer
‘’Former Prime Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan is continuing his campaign to persuade Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Sindh and Balochistan Chief Ministers Murad Ali Shah and Abdul Qudous Bizenjo to dissolve the National Assembly. To hold early general elections of two provincial assemblies in the country soon…’’
They planned several marches and public gatherings to pressure the federal government to accept the demand for early general elections in the country.
These measures threatened that the government would have to face business disruption if the demand was not met. Despite a spirited eight-month effort, the federal government crumbled and resisted surrender.
The former prime minister's latest move is to threaten to dissolve both provincial assemblies, including one in Punjab, led by PML-Q chief Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, a much smaller coalition that holds the balance. Power in the assembly lies between the two largest and almost equally powerful parties, the PTI and the Muslim League-N.
KP Chief Minister Mehmood Khan is the only PTI member who controls the parliament of another province.
Imran Khan's assessment that his rivals could not afford to hold two rounds of elections after nearly 10 months in control of the federal government and two other provincial assemblies led to his party's plan to dissolve both assemblies. Forced to declare.
This exercise may result in unforeseen constitutional and administrative problems and is more expensive than one involving the National Assembly and all four provincial houses simultaneously.
If the elections to the two provincial assemblies are held too soon, the problems include the absence of neutral caretaker governments in Punjab and KP and the possibility of these governments exercising considerable political influence during the upcoming National Assembly elections. May be
Many believe that it is almost inappropriate to talk about early elections given the current situation.
Earlier, the spokesperson of the federal government had urged Imran Khan that if he wants early general elections across the board, then he should dissolve both the provincial assemblies.
However, after Imran Khan announced the dissolution, the PDM-PPP alliance announced that they would oppose the dissolution through tactics such as moving no-confidence motions against the chief ministers, which led to the dissolution. will can be prevented, and/or by asking Chief Ministers through Governors to seek a vote of confidence from their respective Assemblies - a move that carries a small risk of failure for Chief Minister Punjab.
There was even talk of trying the risky route of Governor's control under Article 234 of the Constitution.
The federal coalition administration announced that it would not prematurely dissolve the National Assembly or the other two provincial assemblies, but would only allow fresh elections for those two provincial assemblies.
Many in the PTI and PML-Q questioned whether it was wise to dissolve the two PTI-controlled assemblies so soon after learning of the possibility, and urged the PTI leader. Gave them a chance to reconsider their choice.
Imran Khan, or any other political leader for that matter, is free to call for early elections, but it is the Leader of the House in each assembly who has the authority to dissolve a national or provincial legislature early and call for early elections.
Therefore, pressuring a Leader of the House to exercise a power that is exclusively his under the Constitution is the same as disobeying the law.
According to our Constitution, unless the responsible Leader of the House dissolves an assembly early, it completes its five-year term before the ECP arranges new elections within 60 days of the parliament's tenure coming to an end.
Pakistan is currently suffering from severe economic crisis and many analysts believe that the country may face a financial default which could have far-reaching consequences for the nation.
A large part of the population remains displaced, especially in Sindh, Balochistan and southern Punjab where heavy rains and floods destroyed their homes, farms and businesses. Many believe that it is almost insensitive to discuss early elections under such circumstances.
Recently, some federal ministers have indicated that it would be possible to invoke the emergency provisions of Article 232(6) of the Constitution, which would allow for a one-year extension of the five-year term of the National Assembly after a declaration of emergency. Is. . . .
However, such a declaration can be difficult to deal with due to legal challenges and political consequences. However, if the economy continues to deteriorate, emergency provisions may turn into a serious choice.
Imran Khan says early elections are necessary to successfully resolve the current economic crisis and resolve it through a strong and new popular mandate government.
This argument might have been more persuasive had Imran Khan not expressed major reservations about the current Election Commission, which is constitutionally mandated to conduct elections.
Furthermore, the PTI will not participate in the National Assembly nor will it participate in the formation of the federal caretaker government that will take over the administration of the state during the elections.
So it is absolutely impossible for the PTI to accept the results of the elections in these circumstances unless the result is clearly in favor of the PTI. Therefore, even after the fresh elections, the return of political stability in Pakistan is not certain.
In the case of early elections, the decision of the Council of Common Interests to conduct a fresh census before the next elections, which was held in April 2021 under the chairmanship of Imran Khan, cannot be implemented.
