Shot in the dark

For supporters, Imran Khan’s move to dissolve the national assembly is a masterstroke. But his detractors see it as a civilian coup. All eyes are now on the supreme court

- MEHMAL SARFRAZ/LAHORE

General (retd) Pervez Musharraf once said that he thinks the constitution is “just a piece of paper to be thrown in the dustbin”. The scenes that unfolded in the national assembly on April 3 show that prime minister Imran Khan and his party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), think no differently than the former military dictator.

A vote of no-confidence against Khan was moved by the opposition on March 8 over his government’s inability to rein in inflation. The government delayed summoning a session of the national assembly, using the Organisation of Islamic Corporation foreign ministers’ meeting as an excuse. After some delay and adjourning sessions, the vote was finally set to take place on April 3. It could not be delayed any further.

And so, the numbers were eventually managed by the opposition. It had been a hectic political time since February. There was a flurry of meetings—first between the leaders of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) and then between the opposition parties and the PTI allies, the Pakistan Muslim LeagueQuaid e Azam (PML-Q) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP).