QUETTA, Pakistan, Jan 23, Reuter: A court on Monday ordered restoration of the Baluchistan provincial assembly, dissolved suddenly last month amid charges that Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto had conspired to keep an ally in power.
At the end of hearings which started on Thursday, four judges of the Baluchistan high court agreed unanimously to restore the legislature of Pakistan’s largest but least populated province, bordering Iran and Afghanistan.
Baluchistan’s advocate General filed an application to suspend the order and leave to appeal to the supreme court.
The province has been governed by a caretaker Chief Minister since December 22, a week after Chief Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali dissolved the legislature on the advice of Governor Mohammad Musa, which he was constitutionally bound to follow.
The court ruled the dissolution unconstitutional and without lawful authority. The case was brought against the government by four assembly members and a Baluchistan lawyer.
Last month Bhutto, 35, said the action was constitutional and her Pakistan People’s party would not interfere. Political analysts said the dissolution saved Jamali, whose coalition included Bhutto’s party, losing a vote of confidence.
Bhutto, whose PPP won a general election on November 16, rejected opposition accusations that she conspired to keep an ally in power.
Article extracted from this publication >> January 27, 1989
