Pakistan Supreme Court Orders Vote Of No Confidence In Khan To Go Ahead

Pakistan's supreme court has dealt a devastating blow to the prime minister, Imran Khan, by ruling that he had acted unconstitutionally in dissolving parliament prior to a noconfidence vote he was expected to lose, and ordered for the vote to go ahead this weekend.

- Shah Meer Baloch

In the conclusion to a hearing that has gripped Pakistan for the past four days, the chief justice of Pakistan,

Umar Ata Bandial, ruled that Khan had violated the law in his bid to stop the vote, which was widely expected to topple him from power.

The ruling said Khan, 69, had been wrong both in instructing the deputy speaker of the house, a close ally, to suspend the vote, and in asking the president to dissolve parliament last Sunday morning.

Judges ordered that on Saturday a session of the national assembly should be held to conduct the vote of no confidence against the prime minister.

No member of the parliament will be restricted from voting, according to the ruling, which was an undisputed and unanimous decision by the bench consisting of five judges.