Supreme Court judge Justice Munib Akhtar Monday observed that after joining a political party, a lawmaker’s individual vote during no-confidence proceedings was considered a “collective right”. He said according to Article 95(ii) of the Constitution, which dealt with the procedure to bring in a no-confidence motion against the prime minister, a member’s individual vote had “no status”, adding that the court had previously made similar observations in cases related to former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif. After joining a political party, a member’s vote was considered a “collective” right, he added, says a news report. According to senior lawyers Abdul Moiz Jaferi and Barrister Salahuddin Ahmed, this observation by the judge, if taken to its logical conclusion, would mean that lawmakers cannot vote against the party lines during the no-confidence proceedings against the premier and if they do, their vote may not be counted and/or they may face disqualification. Both lawyers said they did not agree with this interpretation of the Constitution. They, however, said it was difficult to read Justice Akhtar’s mind from a single observation and pointed out that the court had not issued a final order on the issue yet.
MNA’s individual vote has no status: Justice Munib
Supreme Court judge Justice Munib Akhtar Monday observed that after joining a political party, a lawmaker’s individual vote during no-confidence proceedings was considered a “collective right”. He said according to Article 95(ii) of the Constitution, which dealt with the procedure to bring in a no-confidence motion against the prime minister, a member’s individual vote had […]
