Hours ahead of Pakistan’s Supreme Court meeting to decide on the fate of Prime Minister Imran Khan, his ex-wife on Monday (April 4, 2022) called him a ‘controversial’ character and said that the SC must take action to restrain a ‘pyromaniac’.
“A controversial character from day one & after subverting democracy blatantly how can anyone in their right mind accept a care taker set up of his choice to conduct free & fair elections!! Selected set up must be Rejected,” Reham Khan, who was briefly married to Imran in 2015, tweeted.
“An unconstitutional measure cannot be legitimatised by only suggesting fresh elections can be held. It was not for Imran to decide this as he had no constitutional right to do so!! Every rule violation must be punished to set an example,” she added.
“This man can never be allowed to yield any influence in Pakistan. The SC must take action to restrain a pyromaniac,” Reham Khan said.
The statements came ahead of Pakistan’s top court meeting to decide on the fate of Khan after his party blocked a no-confidence vote and he dissolved parliament in a surprise move to prevent his ouster.
The cricketer-turned-politician lost his majority in parliament last week as his opponents built their support, and he was facing a no-confidence motion tabled by the opposition on Sunday. But the deputy speaker of parliament, a member of Khan`s party, blocked the motion that Khan had widely been expected to lose, ruling it was part of a foreign conspiracy and unconstitutional.
The move now throws the nation of 22 million people into a full-blown constitutional crisis, with opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif calling the blocking of the vote “nothing short of high treason”.
Khan wants a general election within 90 days, though that decision officially rests with the president and the election commission.
The Supreme Court is due to meet at 1:30 PM (IST) to begin its deliberation. It could order parliament be reconstituted, call for a new election, or bar Khan from standing again if he is found to have acted unconstitutionally.
The court could also decide that it cannot intervene in parliamentary affairs.
Khan, who was once touted as Pakistan’s most eligible bachelor for his rugged Pathani good looks, married thrice, but his previous two marriages ended in divorce.
His first marriage was to Jemima Goldsmith, daughter of a British billionaire, in 1995, which lasted 9 years. Khan has two sons from her. His second marriage with TV anchor Reham Khan in 2015 ended after a brief 10 months.
In 2018, Khan married for the third time and this time to his “spiritual guide” Bushra Maneka.