The Pakistan Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned the Speaker’s decision.
Islamabad:
Pakistan’s top court on Tuesday ruled to hand over control of the country’s most populous province, Punjab, to a candidate backed by ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan, triggering fresh political uncertainty in the South Asian nation amid a dire economic crisis. .
The move increases pressure on the federal government, made up of a coalition of parties that ousted Khan from premiership in April, as it seeks to implement difficult, and unpopular, economic reforms to address a financial crisis. tries.
In a brief order, Pakistan’s Supreme Court ruled that the Khan-backed candidate for chief minister of Punjab, Chaudhry Parvez Elahi, was wrongly denied victory in a vote last week, and ordered that he be denied victory at midnight on Tuesday. before being installed as the head of the province.
Elahi was denied victory by the Speaker of the Punjab Legislative Assembly, who disregarded the votes in his favor on the grounds of being against the party line and handed over the victory to the candidate of the ruling coalition.
The court overturned the speaker’s decision.
The development gave Khan’s campaign for new elections a shot in the arm. The deposed prime minister has been protesting across the country for mid-term general elections, which are not due until the end of next year.
The tug of war between Khan and his opponents has put a heavy burden on the economy of the already nuclear-powered nation’s 220 million, which is in the middle of a tough IMF program.
JPMorgan warned in a note earlier on Tuesday that fresh calls for early elections would continue to put pressure on the ruling coalition and increase political uncertainty.
The JPMorgan note, issued hours before the court’s ruling, said, “The results have significant implications for the government’s willingness to implement electorally challenging policies, which are necessary to restart and maintain the IMF program.” are necessary.”
Pakistan is grappling with falling foreign exchange reserves, rising current account deficit and rapidly depleting currency.
Adding to the uncertainty, the decision could lead to a standoff between the government and the judiciary.
“The decision has not been accepted by the people, we will decide our future course of action after consulting coalition partners,” Federal Information Minister Maryam Aurangzeb told reporters on Tuesday night.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)