The country is caught in a whirlpool of confusion and uncertainty due to the heightened level of confrontation between the government and combined opposition in the back-drop of the filing of a no-confidence motion against the Prime Minister by the latter. Unfortunately, the government which has the responsibility to ensure a peaceful atmosphere in the country, has itself made the matters worse by adopting a belligerent and threatening posture towards the opposition, forcing it to retaliate in the same manner.

In response to the government decision to hold a rally at D-chowk one day before the vote of no-confidence is voted upon and as per the statements of the minister to keep them there to prevent the PTI legislators from entering the National Assembly and the announcement by the opposition to bring their own followers to the same venue on 25th and keeping them there till the day of voting ensuring that the legislators enter the Assembly building unhindered, has created a very ugly situation. This might lead to unpredictable violence. I think sanity must prevail on both sides, more so in government circles. There is absolutely no need for such improvidence. The government is better advised to de-escalate the situation by cancelling its rally allowing the opposition to also follow suit.

It is really not tenable as to why the Prime Minister is running around the country and holding public rallies. It is only done when one is on an election campaign. He needs to focus on how to deal with the no-confidence motion constitutionally. It is indeed a bizarre scenario seeing the ruling party threatening its own legislators to heap disgrace on them in case they did not toe the party line. Yet another ridiculous threat being given to them is that they would be disqualified by the speaker before they cast their vote.

I am afraid that the speaker is not competent to disqualify a member of the assembly on account of defection. Perhaps it is pertinent to bring into the knowledge of the readers and all those interested in knowing the truth, what the constitution says in this regard. Article 63 A prescribes the procedure for disqualification of a member of the party going against the party line. According to this Article the head of the party would in writing declare that a particular member has defected from the political party and forward the declaration to the presiding officer (Speaker) and the Chief Election Commissioner, also providing a copy of the same to the concerned member. However before making the declaration the party head shall provide such member with an opportunity to show cause as to why such declaration may not be made against him. The presiding officer will send the declaration to the Chief Election Commissioner within two days of its receipt. The Chief Election Commissioner will lay the declaration before the Election Commission for its decision confirming the declaration or otherwise within thirty days of its receipt by the Commissioner. The member ceases to be the member of the Houser if the Election Commission confirms the declaration. The matter does not end there. The aggrieved party can file an appeal to the Supreme Court which will decide the matter within ninety days from filing of the appeal.

It is abundantly clear that from the constitutional perspective, neither the head of the party nor the speaker has the power to disqualify a member of his party in case of defection. The defection happens when a member actually casts a vote against the party. The member ceases to be a member of the House only in case of endorsement of the declaration submitted to it by the head of the party through the speaker.

As per the vibes emanating from the wheeling and dealing going on at the moment, things are not moving in the right direction for the sitting government. There is a rift within the ranks of the ruling party and it has failed to woo back its estranged legislator. Its allies, particularly the major ones like MQM and PML (Q) are non-committal so far. His survival depends on how far he succeeds in patching up with the dissidents of the party and keeping the allies in good stead. If Chaudhry Pervez Elahi is to be believed, the Prime Minister has already missed that opportunity.

Malik Muhammad Ashraf
The writer is a freelance columnist. He can be reached at ashpak10@gmail.com.