Wednesday, April 6, 2022
#Pakistan - ‘Constitutional Coup’ Threatened in Pakistan
Patricia Gossman
Imran Khan Dissolves Parliament to Remain in Office.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s move on Sunday to dissolve parliament rather than face a no-confidence vote that could remove him from power effectively deprives Pakistani citizens of their right to choose their government.On April 3, Qasim Khan Suri, the deputy speaker of Pakistan’s national assembly, dismissed a no-confidence motion against the prime minister. Claiming that “loyalty to the state was the basic duty of every citizen,” and that the no-confidence move was a “foreign conspiracy,” Suri refused to allow the vote. Khan’s government then dissolved the national assembly and called for new elections in 90 days.
The move has plunged Pakistan into constitutional crisis. Under Pakistan’s constitution, the prime minister ceases to hold office if a majority of the National Assembly votes for a motion of no confidence – Imran Khan’s party appeared to have lost its majority by April 3. The action allows Khan to continue as prime minister until a caretaker government takes over, with neither a national assembly nor a federal cabinet.
Legal experts, journalists, and rights group have condemned Khan’s maneuver as an assault on the country’s democracy. Now the Supreme Court of Pakistan, which took up the matter on April 3, is the only constitutional body empowered to adjudicate on the legality of the government’s dissolution. A hearing is scheduled on Wednesday, April 6.
The situation prior to the no-confidence vote was already fraught. Government officials threatened to “blow up the opposition in a suicide attack” and called on supporters to go out and take “traitors” to task. One member of parliament from Khan’s party tweeted that all opposition members should be shot – a tweet he subsequently deleted. Senior members of Khan’s party have called for opposition members to be arrested for treason.
Imran Khan’s dissolution of parliament to prevent it from voting so that he could remain in office threatens core democratic principles. It infringes on the rights of Pakistani citizens to choose their government, which is protected under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The government’s threatened use of violence, allegations of treason, and abrogation of the constitution are hallmarks of dictatorship, which Pakistanis have previously endured and should not have to endure again.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/04/05/constitutional-coup-threatened-pakistan#
Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s message on World Health Day
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that provisioning of the state of the art, free of cost medical facilities to the people and revamping and up-gradation of the public health system is what the PPP has always aimed at and continues to taking due steps to ensure true applicability of its plans.It is the obligation of the state to take steps towards free of cost provisioning of the medical facilities among the citizens particularly to those downtrodden populous that does not meet the additional burden, added the PPP Chairman. According to a statement issued from Media Cell Bilawal House, the PPP chairman in his message on the occasion of ‘World Health Day’ said that the statistics regarding People’s access to the health facilities in Pakistan points at disappointing situation. Since a mentionable population of up to 40 percent approximately in the country lives under the poverty line due to which the targeted populous can’t meet the huge medical expenses and hence can’t be left at the mercy of health care system in the private sector, he added. The PPP Chairman was of the view that even not a single tertiary care hospital wasn’t established in Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan during last many years.Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that his party’s governments had always taken the due responsibility for standard public health.He added that Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto took a revolutionary step in Pakistan’s public health sector by founding Lady Health Workers in the 90’s, which is the backbone of country’s healthcare system today.He said that the Sindh government has, despite limited resources, always taken drastic measures for the improvement and upgradation of standard and free of cost health facilities for the masses. He pointed out that the PPP-led Sindh government has set up more than 500 small and large health centers and hospitals across the province till date. Sindh Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center, Gambut Institute of Medical Sciences and Dow Medical University of Health Sciences have been revamped. The CyberKnife robotic radiosurgery set up for cancer patients at JPMC is also a blessing for the patients suffering from cancers. He said that above all, the ailing people receive free treatment in these aforementioned healthcare facilities. In addition, these facilities equally cater to medical needs of the people from other cities and provinces, reminded the PPP Chairman.He further said that the Sindh government, under its ‘Health for All’ policy, has opened the door to free state of the art free medical services for every Pakistani.Bilawal Bhutto Zardari reiterated his firm resolve that soon after sweeping next general elections in the country, the PPP-led governments would make the dream of setting up health facilities like Gambut Institute of Medical Sciences, SICVD and Cyber Knife technology a reality in other provinces, too, because other three provinces seriously lag far behind Sindh with regard to health system in Sindh.The PPP chairman also endorsed the World Health Organization’s theme for the World Health Day this year, ‘Our Planet, Our Health’. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari paid growing tribute to those front-line health workers and doctors who embraced martyrdom during the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and anti-polio campaigns.
https://www.ppp.org.pk/pr/26768/
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