Pakistan's supreme court adjourned on Tuesday without ruling on the legality of political manoeuvres that led Prime Minister Imran Khan to dissolve the national assembly and call fresh elections.
The court, which will resume on Wednesday, must decide if the deputy speaker of the assembly violated the constitution by refusing to allow a no-confidence vote against Khan at the weekend.
Had the vote taken place Khan was certain to have been booted from office, but the move allowed him to get the presidency -- a largely ceremonial role held by a loyalist -- to dissolve parliament and order an election, which must be held within 90 days.
President Arif Alvi upped the ante on Tuesday by issuing a letter to the opposition saying if they did not nominate a candidate for interim prime minister, the process would continue without them.
Shehbaz Sharif, who would have replaced Khan had Sunday's vote taken place, said he would not participate.
"The main issue is that the constitution has been abrogated," he told reporters outside the court.
"If we don't get a remedy then Pakistan will, God forbid, become a banana republic."
Khan has already nominated former chief justice Gulzar Ahmad for the role.
Nuclear-armed Pakistan has been wracked by political crises for much of its 75-year existence, and no prime minister has ever seen out a full term.
There had been high hopes for Khan when he was elected in 2018 on a promise of sweeping away decades of entrenched corruption and cronyism, but he has struggled to maintain support with soaring inflation, a feeble rupee and crippling debt.
