A five-member bench of the Supreme Court today ruled that the votes of dissident members of parliament from parliamentary parties would not be counted. The votes is the trust of the party. However, the Supreme Court bench has not ruled on the lifelong disqualification of these deviant members and has said that Parliament can legislate in this regard.
What was the presidential reference?
The former PTI-led government had decided to approach the SC for clarity on Article 63(A) as several PTI lawmakers announced to vote on the no-trust motion against then prime minister Imran Khan — a violation of the party policy.
Despite their decision of not siding with their leader, none of the PTI MNAs had cast their votes of no-confidence against Khan, as the then opposition already had the required 172 votes to oust him.
In the reference, the government sought the apex court’s opinion on two interpretations of Article 63(A) and which one should be adopted and implemented to achieve the constitutional objective of curbing the menace of defections, purification of the electoral process, and democratic accountability.
The judgment
The Supreme Court of Pakistan, while announcing an opinion in the presidential reference seeking interpretation of Article 63(A), said that the vote of dissident party members will not be counted.
A five-member larger bench of the apex court headed by CJP Bandial, and comprising Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan, Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel, Justice Muneeb Akhtar and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel had reserved the judgement.
While giving its opinion, the top court remarked that the article concerned cannot be interpreted alone. The opinion was given by the Supreme Court in a 3-2 ratio. Justice Mando Khel and Justice Mazhar Alam of the five-member bench disagreed.
Chief Justice Omar Ata Bandial, Justice Ejaz-ul-Haq and Justice Muneeb Akhtar said that the vote cast by the defecting member should not be counted while Justice Mazhar Alam Mian Khel and Justice Mandokhel disagreed.
Who won, who lost?
With this decision of the Supreme Court, the basic wish of Imran Khan and PTI has not been fulfilled and deviant members of the Assembly will not be disqualified for life. By the way, if this had happened then the chapter of floor-crossing would have ended forever.
However, the PTI has won a major victory in the Punjab Assembly by its deviant members of the Assembly who voted for Hamza Shahbaz for the Chief Minister slot. According to this decision of the Supreme Court, the votes of deviant members of the Assembly will not be counted, ie Hamza Shahbaz lost his majority and he is no longer the Chief Minister.
What will happen in Punjab
About 25 PTI MPAs had voted for Hamza Shahbaz, against whom a reference has also been sent to the Election Commission. According to the decision of the Supreme Court, their vote was lost and thus the guilt came to them unhappily. Now, these deviant members of the Assembly cannot even return to the PTI because they have already cast their votes, a reference has also been sent against them.
It is expected that the Election Commission will de-seat him.
While the majority of Hamza Shahbaz in the Assembly has clearly ended. They will either resign or be asked to take a vote of confidence.
What will happen in NA?
There may not be an immediate difference in the National Assembly. There, the deviant members of the PTI Assembly did not vote, so they were not de-seated, the Election Commission has also rejected the reference in this regard. However, it has become clear that these deviant members of the Assembly did not vote for Shahbaz Sharif. If this is done then those votes will not be counted. In other words, the entire majority of Shahbaz Sharif depends on one or two votes. In the election of the Prime Minister, he had won a majority of two votes.
After the Supreme Court decision, Fawad Chaudhry claimed that three PML-N MPAs are not with Shahbaz Sharif. If this claim is true then the majority of the Prime Minister is gone. Arif Alvi of PTI is the President of the country and he has made it clear by his conduct that he can go to any extent at the behest of Imran Khan. President Alawi may ask Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif to take a vote of confidence. If indeed the three PML-N MPAs have changed their allegiance, it means that the federal government is also gone.
Future scenario?
Apparently, this decision of the Supreme Court, in terms of its impact and impact, is more than 70% in favor of the PTI. If the government of Hamza Sharif ends in Punjab, it will be a great victory for PTI. If provincial elections are held in Punjab then elections will have to be held in the center also. There is a PTI government in KPK, elections will be announced there too, thus creating an atmosphere for elections.
