By Asif Shahzad and Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistan’s top court will hear on Wednesday from Prime Minister Imran Khan’s legal team defending its bid to block an opposition bid to oust him, a move critics say is unconstitutional and has opened a new phase of political unrest.
Khan, a former cricket star, lost his parliamentary majority last week and was facing a vote of no confidence from the opposition which he was set to lose on Sunday.
But the deputy speaker of parliament, a member of Khan’s party, rejected the motion, saying it was part of a foreign conspiracy and unconstitutional. Khan then dissolved parliament.
This impasse has plunged this country of 220 million inhabitants, endowed with nuclear weapons and ruled by the army for long periods since independence in 1947, into a real constitutional crisis.
The opposition challenged the decision to block the vote before the Supreme Court, which began deliberating on the case on Monday. On Wednesday, the court will hear from lawyers for Khan’s party, Pakistan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf.
The Supreme Court’s five-judge panel did not say when it would make its decision. It could order the reconstitution of parliament, call new elections or ban Khan from coming to power if he is found to have violated the constitution.
She could also decide that she cannot intervene in parliamentary business.
Pakistan’s military is facing growing calls from the opposition to weigh in on the legitimacy of Khan’s claims of a foreign plot against him, he says orchestrated by the United States.
The United States denied the charge.
A senior opposition leader, Maryam Nawaz, said the army should clarify whether she had told a high-level security meeting that the United States had conspired with the opposition to overthrow her government, as Khan had told her. affirmed.
“Imran Khan used the National Security Committee for his political gains,” she said late on Tuesday.
The Pakistani military has neither confirmed nor denied Khan’s accusation, but an official with knowledge of the matter, who declined to be identified, told Reuters on Tuesday that security agencies had found no evidence. credible to confirm Khan’s complaint of a conspiracy.
The army has intervened to remove civilian governments and seize power three times, citing the need to end political uncertainty, although it claims not to be involved in politics.
(This story is redacted to correct spelling in first paragraph)