What’s the Hurry Mr Governor?

Experts argue that the governor is required to explain why he asked the CM to take a vote of confidence

Lahore: The constitutional and political crisis in Punjab, the largest province of Pakistan, has deepened after the Governor issued the notification of the removal of Chief Minister Pervez Elahi on the pretext of failing to obtain a vote of confidence from the assembly.

Though the Lahore High Court later suspended the governor’s order after seeking assurance from the chief minister that he would not be dissolving the assembly for the time being, the main issue of disagreement between the speaker and the governor remains the validity of the ongoing assembly session which is still unresolved.

Speaker Sibtain Khan, speaking to Bol News, said that the Punjab Assembly session was already in progress when the Governor asked him to convene the session for a vote of confidence against the chief minister.

“Constitutionally, a new session cannot be called during an ongoing session,” he argued.

However, the Governor of Punjab rejected his justification and said that the Constitution does not prevent the application of Article 130 Clause 7, even if the session of the Assembly is already in progress. Consequently, he issued a dismissal order.

The legal eagles believe that the Governor has gone beyond his mandate and an elected chief minister could not be dismissed in such a hasty manner.

They argued that while the Governor Punjab has got the power to ask the chief minister to seek a vote of confidence, it should not have been done in a hasty manner. “The governor is required to explain the reasons for asking the CM to take a vote of confidence and must give reasonable time for it,” they pointed out.

Azhar Siddique, a renowned legal expert, said according to the Constitution the governor has to call a special session for the vote of confidence during which no other business could be taken up in the house.

“As a first step the governor would have to prorogue the ongoing 41st session of the assembly, which he himself summoned, and then summon the special session for the vote of confidence,” he explained.

Talking about the speaker’s ruling over the order of the governor, he said Punjab Assembly Speaker Sibtain didn’t challenge the powers of the governor but simply raised the issue of the legality of the ongoing session.

“Secondly, the governor should have a valid reason to ask for a vote of confidence, and in the present scenario, the governor’s reasons are not valid,” he said.

Thirdly, he said, the governor should have given a reasonable time for taking a vote of confidence and 48 hours were just not enough.

Referring to the case of Mian Manzoor Ahmad Wattoo, who was removed from the CM’s post in 1995 after he failed to obtain the confidence vote, Azhar said that the Chief Minister of Punjab has to be given at least full 10 days to get the vote of confidence, but this mandatory period is not mentioned in the order of the Governor.

The Punjab Assembly convened a session of the House on Dec 23, due to which the no-confidence motion and the orders of the Governor of Punjab have become ineffective. He said there is no constitutional bar on the chief minister to dissolve the assembly if the governor asks him to seek a vote of confidence, but in this particular instance, the LHC has taken an assurance from Pervaiz Elahi – only for the time being in order to resolve the crisis – that he will not be dissolving the assembly.

He explained that the court could not take away the constitutional right of the chief minister permanently. He, however, added that in case a no-confidence motion is gathered against the Chief Minister in the Assembly, he cannot give orders to dissolve the assembly.

Commenting on the second part of the controversy whre the Governor de-notified the CM, the legal experts said the move was illegal.

Senior lawyer Syed Sajjad Haider said two aspects are of primary importance in this regard; one is the basis on which the Governor believed and was satisfied that the Chief Minister has lost the confidence of the House, and the second being how credible is the basis on which the decision was made.

He said the constitution does give governor the power to ask the chief minister to take a vote of confidence, but in the constitution there is a word for the governor to be “satisfied”. “The problem is who will interpret this word,” questioned Sajjad.

“There have been court decisions in the past where the courts have decided while keeping in view the Governor’s intention. The second issue will be the interpretation of Article 130 Clause 7 of the Constitution.”

Senior lawyer and constitutional expert Azhar Siddique said that the chief minister can dissolve the assembly after voting on the no-confidence motion. “According to the constitution, if the governor does not approve the summary of dissolution of the assembly sent by the chief minister, the assembly will be considered dissolved within 48 hours.”

He said the Governor’s Rule could not be imposed in Punjab unless the provincial assembly passed a resolution with majority of votes in its favour.

Advocate Azhar further said if CM Pervaiz Elahi fails to get a vote of confidence, the governor may ask any other person to obtain the confidence of the majority of the assembly members and become chief minister.

“But the PML-N and the PPP donot have the required 186 votes in the assembly, so they cannot form the government unless Pervaiz Elahi chooses to become the PDM candidate and its parliamentary head endorses this decision,” he explained.

Azhar went on to add that in the light of the SC decision that the vote of dissidents would not be counted in the vote of confidence, they would be deseated.

“If you recall that 25 PTI members had voted for Hamza Shehbaz early this year, but their votes were discarded and subsequently they were deseated. A similar situation can arise here.” “But if all the parties fail to secure a simple majority in the house, the governor can dissolve the assembly immediately.”