Pakistan’s supreme court will rule Thursday on the legality of political maneuvering that led Prime Minister Imran Khan to dissolve the national assembly and call new elections.
The court is deciding whether the deputy speaker of the assembly violated the constitution by refusing to allow a no-confidence motion against Khan at the weekend.
The move allowed Khan to win the presidency, a largely ceremonial role assumed by a loyalist, to dissolve parliament and order elections, which must be held within 90 days.
If the vote had taken place, Khan would surely have been ousted from office.
“We will reconvene for the announcement of the trial at 7:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m. GMT) today,” Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial said.
Bandial has previously said the court will rule only on the legality of the actions of the deputy speaker of the assembly, so it was not immediately clear what effect any judgment may have, although there is a precedent.
In 1988, Muhammad Khan Junejo appealed to the court after then-president General Zia-ul-Haq, who had seized power in a military coup years earlier, dissolved the assembly.
The court agreed that his government had been unconstitutionally dissolved, but ruled that since elections had been announced anyway, it was better to go ahead.
Bandial hinted at similar pragmatism on Thursday.
“There is a lot of rancor between the parties in the assembly and we have to think about whether they will be able to get along,” he said.
Pakistan has been wracked by political crisis for much of its 75-year existence, and no prime minister has ever served a full term.
Hopes were high for Khan when he was elected in 2018 on a promise to end decades of entrenched corruption and cronyism, but he has struggled to maintain support with soaring inflation, a weak rupee and crippling debt.
The opposition hoped to seize power on Sunday after mustering enough support to unseat him, but the vice president refused to allow the vote to proceed due to alleged “foreign interference.”
Khan said the opposition had gone too far in colluding with the United States for “regime change.”
The cricket star-turned-politician says Western powers want him removed because he won’t side with them against Russia and China, and the issue is sure to ignite any upcoming election.
Washington has denied any interference.