Speaker’s Great Blow To Pakistan Democracy: Daily
Islamabad, April 6: A leading Pakistani newspaper on Wednesday accused the National Assembly’s Deputy Speaker of delivering a massive blow to the country’s democracy by dismissing a vote of no-confidence against Prime Minister Imran Khan in the name of an unnamed “foreign plot”.
The Dawn said in an editorial that Qasim Suri abused the Constitution “when he arbitrarily decided (on Sunday) that the entire opposition — comprising over 197 elected MPs — was involved in a foreign plot to overthrow the government”. In the process, Suri violated his responsibilities “to supervise a fair, unbiased voting process on a resolution presented before the Assembly”, it said. “If only he had looked into history, there was great precedent for him to stay true to his constitutional duties and carry out his responsibilities in a legal manner.”
“If Qasim Suri acted out of fear of his boss Imran Khan, or indeed out of his own political interest, then he has truly dealt a great blow to the already fragile democratic system in Pakistan,” the Dawn said.
It reminded the Deputy Speaker that his boss was not Imran Khan — it is the National Assembly. “The Speaker of Parliament is meant to serve as a champion of parliamentarians.”
Asking the Supreme Court to reverse what the Deputy Speaker Suri had done, the editorial said: “This is not just the Constitution’s last stand — it may well be the last stand of democracy in Pakistan”.
