An application was submitted in the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Friday, requesting withdrawal of a constitutional petition that was filed seeking fresh vote of confidence from Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani. Advocate Rasheed A Akhund, who had filed the petition, sought withdrawing his plea because the prime minister has gained the required number of votes from the National Assembly.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Mushir Alam and Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi adjourned the hearing for the next date to be fixed later. The applicant submitted that the federal government has gained majority in the National Assembly as the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) have joined the government.
In his prior petition, Akhund had submitted that President Asif Ali Zardari should be directed to immediately summon a National Assembly session under Article 91(7) of the Constitution and ask the PM to obtain a vote of confidence from the assembly. According to the petition, the Pakistan People’s Party-led government had lost the confidence of the majority when two of their coalition partners, the MQM and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl, had withdrawn their support to the government.
Following that, the government was rendered unconstitutional under the parliamentary form of the government. Accusing the president and the prime minister, the plaintiff had said that they were acting out of self-interest for continuing to remain in power and not in the national interest. The president, the prime minister, the Law and Parliamentary Affairs Ministry, the PML-Nawaz, the PML-Q, the MQM and the Election Commission of Pakistan were cited as respondents in the petition.