No-trust vote against Pak PM Imran Khan likely after 8 pm, says local media
The Pakistan Parliament’s crucial session to vote on no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan resumed on Saturday afternoon following a temporary adjournment after Speaker Asad Qaiser suggested there should be a discussion on the so-called “foreign conspiracy” against the government.
Khan was not present in the House throughout. According to Pakistani media reports, the no-confidence motion against Khan is likely to be put to the vote sometime after 8 pm PST following an informal understanding between the ruling and opposition sides in the National Assembly.
There are reports that Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party is trying to prolong the issue without a vote and is trying to gather supporters outside Parliament. However, the Supreme Court has stated in its order that Saturday’s session of the National Assembly cannot be prorogued till the vote of no confidence is held.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court had restored the dissolved Parliament and ordered the convening of a session on April 9 to conduct a trust vote against the premier.
Earlier on Saturday, in line with the landmark Supreme Court order, the National Assembly’s session began at 10.30 am (11.00 IST).
Taking the floor, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly and senior PML-N leader Shehbaz Sharif hailed Thursday as a historic day in Pakistan’s history when the Supreme Court rejected the deputy speaker’s ruling and said that the apex court’s decision had made the country’s future “bright”.
He called on Speaker Qaiser to conduct proceedings in accordance with the court’s directives, stating that Parliament would be writing history today. “Today, Parliament is going to defeat a ‘selected prime minister’ in a constitutional manner,” he said.
Sharif told the Speaker to let bygones be bygones and to stand for the law and the Constitution, urging him to play his role and to have his name “written in history in golden letters”.
Responding to Sharif, the Speaker assured him that he would conduct proceedings according to the law and the Constitution. “(But) the important thing is that there has been talk of an international conspiracy. This should also be discussed,” he said, as the hall echoed with protests from the Opposition benches.
This prompted Sharif to tell Qaiser that he would be violating the court’s directives if he went down that road. He also read out the apex court’s directives regarding the convening of the session.
“The Supreme Court’s orders will be followed in true letter and spirit,” Qaiser replied, giving the floor to foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who said the Opposition had the right to table a no-trust motion against the prime minister but asserted that defending it was his obligation.
“As the prime minister said yesterday, he is disappointed but has accepted the court’s decision,” Qureshi said, referring to Khan’s address to the nation on Friday night.
Qaisar then adjourned the session until 12.30 PM (13:00 IST) after slight disturbances between the treasury and opposition benches but the break was prolonged.
Sources told Geo News that the session has been deliberately delayed and the PTI ministers will try to make their speeches lengthier.
Meanwhile, a delegation of Pakistan Opposition leaders met with Qaiser in his chamber and demanded immediate voting on the no-confidence motion that could seal the fate of Khan, following the adjournment of the session over ruckus in Parliament.
The Opposition parties need 172 members in the 342-member house to orchestrate the downfall of Prime Minister Khan. They have garnered the support of 176 members with the help of some allies of the ruling coalition. This figure doesn’t include rebels from the PTI of the 69-year-old cricketer-turned-politician.