Pakistani premier wins vote of confidence in parliament

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday won a vote of confidence in parliament amid an ongoing dispute between his government and the country's top judiciary.

The resolution for the vote of confidence, moved by Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, was passed by 180 members of the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, comfortably clearing the minimum 172 by eight.

"The resolution has been passed and Shehbaz Sharif has obtained the vote of confidence from the National Assembly," announced Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, the speaker of the National Assembly.

The move came on the heels of a deepening political crisis in the South Asian country, with the government continuously defying the Supreme Court's order to hold elections in the bellwether Punjab province.

The apex court ordered election authorities late last month to hold elections in Punjab on schedule for May 14. However, the coalition government insists that elections throughout the country should be held on the same day.

A three-member bench of the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, is currently hearing a case related to the implementation of its previous order.

GOVERNMENT TO HOLD TALKS WITH OPPOSITION

In an attempt to break a lingering stalemate over the election date, Sharif announced that his administration would be holding talks with the opposition led by his predecessor Imran Khan.

Addressing parliament after securing the vote of confidence, he said the government team would go to meet the opposition to negotiate the election date.

Thanking lawmakers for affirming their confidence in him, Sharif assured them he "will never let you down."

His remarks were viewed as a thinly-veiled message to the top judiciary that his government had no plans to hold elections in Punjab on May 14.

"This parliament elected me as the prime minister. If this parliament reaches a decision after debate and obliges the government and cabinet, then it is mandatory for me to respect its decision.

"It is mandatory for me to stand by them," he said, referring to multiple resolutions passed by the legislature in recent weeks and vowing to hold elections across the country on same day in October.

"My government is standing with the parliament ... no matter what," he asserted.

The government's refusal to comply with the top court may result in Sharif's disqualification on contempt of the judiciary, according to legal experts, though it won't be an easy decision to take for the judges. The court has long faced criticism for sending several democratically elected premiers home over the past 75 years.

"The judiciary does not have the right to rewrite the Constitution ... This is a violation of the law and Constitution. And, when the parliament objected to it, it has to face threats of contempt," maintained the prime minister.