Daily Archives: April 4, 2022

ISLAMABAD, LATEST

Imran to continue as prime minister till the appointment of a caretaker premier

Imran Khan will continue to serve as the prime minister of Pakistan till the appointment of a caretaker premier under Article 224-A(4) of the Constitution, according to a notification issued by President Dr Arif Alvi’s office.

Article 224(A) deals with the procedure of the appointment of the caretaker prime minister in case the leader of the house and leader of the opposition do not agree on the name of a caretaker prime minister, while 224(A) says:

“The incumbent Prime Minister and the incumbent Chief Minister shall continue to hold office till the appointment of the caretaker Prime Minister and the care-taker Chief Minister, as the case may be.”

Earlier in the day, the Cabinet Secretariat had issued a notification stating that Imran Khan had “ceased to hold the office of the prime minister of Pakistan with immediate effect”.

However, under Article 94 of the Constitution, the president “may ask the Prime Minister to continue to hold office until his successor enters upon the office of Prime Minister”.

This development came after the National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri disallowed the no-trust vote against PM Imran by ruling it to be part of a “foreign conspiracy” and in violation of Article 5 of the Constitution, which demands loyalty to the state.

As the opposition reeled in the face of the government’s move, PM Imran appeared on television moments later to announce that he had advised the president to dissolve the NA and called on the country’s citizens to prepare for fresh elections.

Shortly after, the president dissolved the lower house of Parliament under Article 58 of the Constitution, which says:

“The president shall dissolve the National Assembly if so advised by the prime minister; and the National Assembly shall, unless sooner dissolved, stand dissolved at the expiration of forty-eight hours after the prime minister has so advised.”

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ISLAMABAD, LATEST

Imran names US official who made ‘threat’

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday shared more details about the threat he said he had been facing since early last month.

After the house was prorogued, a number of PTI leaders rushed to the PM Office and felicitated the prime minister on the “success of his surprise move”.

In remarks that were televised, the PM told them that when the National Security Council (NSC) had condemned the involvement of an external force in no-trust resolution, counting [of votes on the motion] had become “irrelevant”.

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Mr Khan revealed that the US had sent a threatening message through Pakistan’s envoy. He was quoted as saying that US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu had reportedly in a meeting with Ambassador Asad Majeed warned there could be implications if he survived the opposition’s no-confidence motion in the National Assembly.

The PM said he had reports that PTI dissidents had frequented the [US] embassy. “What were the reasons that the people, who have left us, met people of the embassy frequently in the last few days,” he wondered.

He termed the deputy speaker’s ruling as “shocking” to the opposition. In fact, Mr Khan said the opposition was unable to understand what had happened. If he had told them [opposition] about his surprise a day earlier, they would not have been shocked this much, he added.