Pakistan political crisis live news: Top court to resume hearing
Supreme Court is set to resume hearing of multiple petitions challenging Imran Khan’s decision to dissolve parliament and call for early elections.
- Pakistan’s Supreme Court is expected to rule on petitions challenging the legal validity of Prime Minister Imran Khan dissolving the parliament and calling for early elections.
- The top court, which has been hearing arguments from Khan’s lawyers and the opposition since Monday, delayed its decision on Tuesday.
- On Sunday, the deputy parliamentary speaker dissolved the National Assembly to sidestep a no-confidence vote that Khan appeared certain to lose.
Here are the latest updates:
Opposition leader attacks Khan
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Ahsan Iqbal has accused Prime Minister Imran Khan of a “poor handling” of the country’s foreign policy.
“You have severed relations with our allies and trade partners,” Iqbal told reporters. “Imran Niazi, you are a disgrace.”
Iqbal said his party hoped the top court ruling will safeguard the supremacy of the constitution.
‘People must come out’: PM Imran Khan
Shortly before the Supreme Court hearing, the embattled Prime Minister Imran Khan asked the people to “come out and defend” the country.
“The people are always the strongest defenders of a country’s sovereignty & democracy. It is the people who must come out & defend against this latest & biggest assault on Pakistan’s sovereignty & democracy by a foreign power thru local collaborators – our Mir Jafars & Mir Sadiqs,” Khan tweeted.
The people are always the strongest defenders of a country’s sovereignty & democracy. It is the people who must come out & defend against this latest & biggest assault on Pakistan’s sovereignty & democracy by a foreign power thru local collaborators — our Mir Jafars & Mir Sadiqs
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) April 6, 2022
Agencies say no proof of foreign conspiracy: Reuters
Pakistan’s security agencies have not found credible evidence to confirm Khan’s complaint of a foreign conspiracy, an official with knowledge of the matter, who declined to be identified, has told Reuters news agency.
Khan and the deputy speaker had said Pakistan’s National Security Council, a top panel that groups civilian officials as well as the military and intelligence chiefs, had confirmed a plot to overthrow him.
However, the official, who is privy to such proceedings, said the security agencies had not come to the same conclusion as Khan and had communicated their view to him.
