KARACHI – The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday directed the Attorney General to appear before the court in a petition asking Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to seek a vote of confidence. The division bench headed by SHC Chief Justice Mushir Alam heard the constitutional petition filed in the SHC by Maulvi Iqbal Haider, submitting that the prime minister should seek vote of confidence from the parliament, as he had lost majority after one of its partners withdrew from the ruling alliance.
On Tuesday, Deputy Attorney General Umar Hayat Sindhu appeared before the bench and requested for more time, saying that the federal government had consulted the authorities concerned for their opinion. The bench ordered that Attorney General be present in the court over the issue in the next hearing. The petitioner had submitted that Gilani was functioning as the prime minister unconstitutionally; as he had lost his mandate after JUI-F withdrew from the coalition government.
Haider stated that according to Article 91 Sub-section 4, the prime minister had to seek a vote of confidence from the National Assembly to prove his majority. The plaintiff mentioned that under Article 91 Sub-section 7, the president has to summon a parliament session for the vote of confidence, adding that both the president and the prime minister were violating the constitution by continuing their terms unconscionably.
He also alleged that the president, instead of following the constitution, was avoiding the issue as the prime minister was affiliated with the ruling PPP headed by the president himself.
Citing the president, the prime minister, the Senate chairman and the National Assembly secretary as respondents, the petitioner pleaded the court to make it clear whether the president was bound to ask the prime minister to get a vote of confidence from the parliament in such circumstances or not.
