KARACHI: The Supreme Court of Pakistan has said that the vote of dissenting lawmakers will not be counted in parliament as the top court expressed its opinion on presidential reference seeking interpretation of Article 63-A. These developments endorse the theory that it was a plan all along to bring Imran Khan back with a two-third majority.
With this decision, Chief Minister Punjab Hamza Shahbaz is likely to go home, as he had 26 votes of the PTI dissenting lawmakers. On the other hand Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif is in hot waters due to rising inflation, increasing commodity prices and inability of the new government to take tough decisions. Removing fuel subsidies will effectively end the popularity of PML-N in Punjab.
In view of the Supreme Court opinion, the fate of the Punjab government hangs in the balance as it was formed with the help of dissenting PTI lawmakers.
In March, President Arif Alvi sent the reference on the advice of then prime minister Imran Khan seeking interpretation of Article 63-A regarding its application of defecting parliamentarians.
The much hyped return of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is now off the cards, as he thinks that the interim coalition government is basically trap for him. His idea is strengthened by the fact that Maryam Nawaz Sharif has not gotten her passport as yet.
Since the ousted of Imran Khan, USA suffered the great loss. Imran Khan could not inflict such a loss to USA, had he been the Prime Minister. Now USA is completely exposed for its interference, hypocrisy and bullying. Now that Imran Khan is not the Prime Minister, he can disclose a lot with jeopardizing the relationship between USA and Pakistan.
Although, Biden administration supported and aided ouster of Imran Khan, but could not exploit the situation in Pakistan and strengthen the new government because of its own troubles and rising deficit.
Secondly, this entire scenario hurt PML-N the most. Analysts believe that MQM would also lose its popularity and may not be in the strong position, it enjoyed over the period of time.
Nonetheless, government has no other option but to increase the fuel prices. As soon as the fuel prices are increased, there would be severe public reaction, which would lead to dissolution of assemblies and then fresh elections.
It is a unanimous conviction that Pakistan would not default. Experts say that Russia and China are keenly observing the situation, but they are not seemingly willing to support the coalition government. It is believed that Imran Khan enjoys good relations with China and Russia. However, once the new elections are announced, both Russia and China would come forward to fish Pakistan out of troubled waters.