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Pakistan's Supreme Court blocks Pakistan's Prime Minister bid for reelection
The Pakistan Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Prime Minister Imran Khan cannot stay in power by dissolving Parliament and calling early elections. It paved the way for opposition lawmakers to demand a no-confidence vote that will force his ouster.
The opposition claims it is within reach of eliminating Prime Minister Imran Khan. it has 172 votes in the 342-seats house needed to oust him. after several of Imran Khan's own members and a key coalition partner defected.
The Supreme court made its decision after hearings on the political crisis lasted four days. As a way to avoid the no-confidence vote, Prime Minister Imran Khan accused his rivals of conspiring with the United States to unseat him.
Shabaz Sharif, the leader of the opposition and President of the Pakistan Muslim League Party and a likely candidate for prime minister if the no-confidence vote succeeds, described the ruling as an occasion for justice and the supremacy of law to prevail.
Prime Minister Imran Khan explains that the United States wishes him to be removed from office because he has a "divergent foreign policy, favoring China and Russia.". During his visit to Moscow on Feb. 24, hours after Russia invaded Ukraine, he was also criticized for being a strident critic of Washington's anti-terrorism war.
According to the State Department, the United States is not involved in Pakistan's internal politics.
7 April 2022
