LAHORE – New developments have surfaced in the PM Imran Khandisqualification case in the Lahore High Court (LHC).
LHC on Friday issued notices to 69 members of the National Assembly (NA)for abstaining from voting during the prime minister’s elections, whichwere held on July 25.
The court was hearing a petition challenging the election of Imran Khan asprime minister.
A petition filed in the LHC had challenged the election of Prime MinisterImran Khan on the ground that every single member of the NA was required tocast his/her vote but 69 votes were not cast.
Advocate Sheikh Zaid Mahmood, a local lawyer, had moved the petition onAugust 31 through senior lawyer AK Dogar maintaining that it was mandatoryunder Clause 91(4) of the Constitution that every member of the NA mustcast his vote to the person nominated for the election of prime minister.
The petitioner had said two parliamentary parties consisting of 69 votespreferred to sit in the NA but abstained from voting. Both PakistanPeople’s Party (PPP) and Jamat-e-Islami (JI) failed to participate in theprocess of the forming of the federal government. The chosenrepresentatives of the people cannot abstain themselves from casting thevotes, he said.
The petitioner said it was their constitutional duty to exercise theirright to vote. The petitioner also made PPP and JI as respondents in thepetition, saying that neither they said “yes” nor they said “no” which wasconstitutionally not allowed.