Political wrangling between Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) appears to be at its peak these days. Unfortunately, this wrangling is making other institutions a part of the problem while negating their role as arbitrators. After a detailed judgment of the Supreme Court in the case pertaining to the deputy speaker of the National Assembly’s ruling to dismiss the no-trust resolution against former prime minister Imran Khan, the federal government has decided to file a reference under Article 6 against the previous PTI government leadership for violating the Constitution of Pakistan. Reportedly, the reference will be filed against President Dr Arif Alvi, former prime minister Imran Khan, deputy speaker Qasim Suri and Punjab Governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema.
There are attacks and counterattacks from both sides after the SC judgment and mystery surrounds the final outcome of this clash between the government and the opposition. The government claims that the SC in its historic detailed judgment has declared that Imran Khan, Arif Alvi, Qasim Suri and Fawad Chaudhry have blatantly transgressed the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan when they didn’t allow the voting on the no-confidence motion. Likewise, Governor Cheema, who refused to endorse the election of Punjab Chief Minister-elect Hamza, is also accused of subverting the constitutional process in the provincial legislator. On behalf of the government, Federal Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar has claimed that the detailed verdict was the “final nail in the coffin” of Imran’s foreign conspiracy narrative as the cypher, which was the basis for Suri to dismiss the no-trust vote, was never shown to the court and was also not discussed in parliament. He also questioned, “If the matter was as grave as Imran portrayed it to be, why didn’t he bring the document to parliament? Why did he take it with himself to rallies and wave it at the public?”
On the other hand, the PTI leadership has a different story altogether regarding the presentation of the cypher. In this regard, former Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry is leading the onslaught on the judiciary and the PML-N. He has claimed that President Arif Alvi had already sent a letter requesting the formation of a commission to investigate the cypher but did not receive any reply as yet. Chaudhry has demanded that the cypher be investigated, claiming that it had been delivered to the Chief Justice of Pakistan in a sealed envelope. “But the SC wrote in its judgment that the cypher was not presented. The judges should ask the CJP why he did not share the cypher,” he added.
In this situation, it has become difficult to ascertain who is right and who is wrong as both sides are sticking to their guns while the masses are bearing the brunt of this clash in the form of the poor economy, political instability and unprecedented inflation that can lead to the collapse of the whole system anytime. Such wrangling and court decisions only divide the nation and no one is benefitted. Wisdom demands that politicians need to resolve all their issues in Parliament instead of inviting a third force to resolve their differences as any intervention by a third force only creates a further mess. The applicability of article 6 was necessitated when the Constitution was abrogated for the first time in the country’s history by a dictator, however, it should not be invoked now for sorting out political clashes.
There are attacks and counterattacks from both sides after the SC judgment and mystery surrounds the final outcome of this clash between the government and the opposition. The government claims that the SC in its historic detailed judgment has declared that Imran Khan, Arif Alvi, Qasim Suri and Fawad Chaudhry have blatantly transgressed the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan when they didn’t allow the voting on the no-confidence motion. Likewise, Governor Cheema, who refused to endorse the election of Punjab Chief Minister-elect Hamza, is also accused of subverting the constitutional process in the provincial legislator. On behalf of the government, Federal Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar has claimed that the detailed verdict was the “final nail in the coffin” of Imran’s foreign conspiracy narrative as the cypher, which was the basis for Suri to dismiss the no-trust vote, was never shown to the court and was also not discussed in parliament. He also questioned, “If the matter was as grave as Imran portrayed it to be, why didn’t he bring the document to parliament? Why did he take it with himself to rallies and wave it at the public?”
On the other hand, the PTI leadership has a different story altogether regarding the presentation of the cypher. In this regard, former Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry is leading the onslaught on the judiciary and the PML-N. He has claimed that President Arif Alvi had already sent a letter requesting the formation of a commission to investigate the cypher but did not receive any reply as yet. Chaudhry has demanded that the cypher be investigated, claiming that it had been delivered to the Chief Justice of Pakistan in a sealed envelope. “But the SC wrote in its judgment that the cypher was not presented. The judges should ask the CJP why he did not share the cypher,” he added.
In this situation, it has become difficult to ascertain who is right and who is wrong as both sides are sticking to their guns while the masses are bearing the brunt of this clash in the form of the poor economy, political instability and unprecedented inflation that can lead to the collapse of the whole system anytime. Such wrangling and court decisions only divide the nation and no one is benefitted. Wisdom demands that politicians need to resolve all their issues in Parliament instead of inviting a third force to resolve their differences as any intervention by a third force only creates a further mess. The applicability of article 6 was necessitated when the Constitution was abrogated for the first time in the country’s history by a dictator, however, it should not be invoked now for sorting out political clashes.
