Having been relieved of the office of Prime Minister, Imran Khan has decided to bring down the entire system.
Punjab is without a chief minister and a cabinet for nearly four weeks now. The newly elected chief minister Hamza Shahbaz is not being sworn in despite Lahore High Court reminding both President Arif Alvi and Punjab Governor Umar Sarfraz Cheema of their constitutional obligation to facilitate the administration of oath to Hamza or nominate someone else to perform the function to let the government start functioning. Meanwhile the PTI leaders continue to insist that courts can pass orders to neither the President nor the Governor. But can the courts remain silent if the President and the Governor act in violation of the constitution with the aim of stopping a duly elected PML(N) government from taking control of Punjab, knowing well that this would lead to a disruption of governance in the country’s largest province.
As the establishment turned neutral it was compared to animals by Mr Khan. A vigilant judiciary is being asked in public meetings why it opened the court at midnight. The idea is to try to discredit the Supreme Court. As preparations continue to hold local government polls and undertake countrywide preparations for general elections, Mr Khan has turned his guns against the Chief Election Commissioner because he has refused to halt proceedings in PTI’s foreign assets case. Mr Khan has demanded his resignation on the flimsy ground that the PTI has no confidence in him.
It goes to the Chief Election Commissioner’s credit that, instead of yielding to Mr Khan’s illegal pressures, he has decided to callhis bluff. Mr Khan’s demand for the CEC’s resignation is aimed at creating a constitutional crisis because after the PTI MNAs having been forced to resign by Imran Khan, there is presently no credible mechanism for the selection of his successor. There is a need on the part of the government to stand firmly by the Chief Election Commissioner. He also has a responsibility not to be swayed by the PTI’s shenanigans against him, and to maintain a scrupulous fairness in dealing with it.
