Prime Minister Khan’s opponents had the votes needed to unseat him in Parliament after members of his own party and a key coalition partner defected.
Pakistan’s Supreme Court has ruled out Prime Minister Imran Khan’s request to dissolve Parliament and ordered the House to be restored.
The decision was made on Thursday after a four-day hearing by the Supreme Court. Khan will now face a no-confidence vote from lawmakers that he was trying to avoid. The assembly is expected to meet on Saturday to vote.
A major political crisis was triggered when Khan and his allies defeated the opposition lawmakers’ bid that seemed sure to depose him.
The court ruled that the move “is declared unconstitutional and unlawful and revoked.”
Khan on Sunday dissolved parliament and set the stage for early elections after accusing the opposition of being part of a “foreign plot” to remove him from power.
His opponents had garnered the 172 votes needed to oust him in the 342-seat House after several members of his own party and a key coalition partner defected. But the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, a member of Khan’s party, rejected the motion of no confidence.
The opposition claimed that Khan had violated the constitution and took their case to the country’s top court.
“Victory for the Nation”
Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial read the decision and said moves to form an interim government ahead of the elections were also unconstitutional.
“It is declared that all measures taken … for the purpose of holding a general election to elect a new Assembly – including but not limited to the appointment of an Acting Prime Minister and Cabinet – have no legal effect and are hereby set aside,” according to the court’s decision said.
Opposition leaders emerged from the court showing victory signs while supporters shouted loudly.
“I congratulate the whole nation,” said Maulana Fazalur Rehman, head of the opposition alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM). “This is the victory of the Constitution and of the entire nation.”
Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif told reporters it was a milestone for the country.
“The Supreme Court made a ruling that not only protected the constitution but also protected Pakistan,” Sharif said.
“We are very confident”
Opposition lawyer Haider Zaman Qureshi predicted an imminent change of government.
“If that [no-confidence] The application is proceeding…we are very confident that we have the numbers and will be successful,” Qureshi told Al Jazeera.
“We will have a coalition government of opposition forces and we will build bridges and we will lead Pakistan out of this economic meltdown that this outgoing government has brought us.”
On Thursday, the fourth day of the hearing, Khan’s lawyers defended the controversial move, saying the Supreme Court had no power to intervene in parliamentary matters.
Khan said the opposition had gone too far in colluding with the United States for “regime change”. He said Washington wanted him gone because of its independent foreign policy, which often favors China and Russia.
The US State Department has denied any involvement in Pakistan’s internal politics.
The standoff plunged the country of 220 million people into a full-blown constitutional crisis and sent its currency to an all-time low against the dollar on Thursday.
“As [the] The dollar continues to rise, a massive economic meltdown is staring the country in the face,” Sharif, who is among the favorites to succeed Khan as prime minister, said in a tweet.
Pakistan’s top court or its powerful military intervene whenever unrest grips a democratically elected government in the South Asian nation. The army has held power and ruled for more than half of Pakistan’s 75-year history.
Q Zaman contributed to this report from Islamabad