Neither Article 232 Nor 234 Permits the Removal of a Chief Minister, States PTI Leader Barrister Ali Zafar; Affirms Sohail Afridi Remains the Legal CM
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief and legal expert Barrister Ali Zafar has claimed that the Constitution of Pakistan does not give any powers to remove a provincial chief minister under the emergency or Governor’s Rule.
During the interview in Islamabad, Zafar said that in law Sohail Afridi is the lawful and rightful Chief Minister of KP and any person or body who is annoyed with the emergency pronouncement has the right to contest it in court of law.
Barrister Ali Zafar’s Legal Analysis and Remarks key highlights:
Constitutional Boundaries of Article 232 & 234: Barrister Zafar made it clear that article 232 (Emergency) and article 234 (Governor’s Rule) make no reference to the unseating of an elected chief minister. He said the official notification that Afridi had to step down was legally “weak” and “binding in nature.
About the jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court, Zafar commented on the current judicial proceedings and said that the constitutional court has a discretionary jurisdiction to transfer pending cases from high courts to itself for hearing.
Political Alliances and Street Protests: When asked whether the PTI was seeking to enter into alliances with political parties such as JUI-F and ANP to participate in the existing litigations, Zafar said there were no talks with them, but if they wanted to be part of the action, they could. He said there is an ongoing movement of the lawsuits in court, but a pause in street movement is being observed.