Imran Khan and his advisors may claim to be constitutionalists but in reality, they are seeking to subvert the constitution just so that they are able to stay in power by any means possible. What we are witnessing in Pakistan right now is the government of Imran Khan seeking to subvert every institution of the country.
As an editorial in Dawn point out, “The vote of no-confidence is a straightforward constitutional procedure which can be processed by summoning the National Assembly, tabling the motion and having the members go through the act of voting. The outcome of this voting would determine whether the House continues with its present leader or gets to elect a new one. Such are the stakes, however, that this fairly linear process is now being twisted and mangled in an attempt to force an outcome of choice.”
Further, as the editorial in Dawn pointed out, the Speaker of the National Assembly Asad Qaiser “is playing a role that will not be favourable to his legacy. Not only has he made no attempt to disguise his partisanship, he has actually flaunted it with obvious glee. This has undermined his standing as a moderator, but perhaps more significantly, it has made him interpret the laws and rules governing this procedure with such creative spin that the matter has now gone to the courts.”
Furthermore, the Prime Minister “is fueling this hardening of positions by resorting to harsh language and threatening posturing. In his last public speech, he took matters to a dangerous level when he said that the children of PTI ticket holders aligning with the opposition would face ridicule in schools. Such words can trigger reactions among his supporters that can easily lead to harassment of the children in schools. This is absolutely unacceptable, and the prime minister should walk back from such rhetoric before this leads to any unfortunate consequences.”
