Daily Times

National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser Monday said he would follow the law during voting on the no-confidence motion after the opposition took exception to his remarks about the possibility of failure of the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan. Talking to journalists at the National Assembly, Asad said no-confidence motion was the opposition’s constitutional right but he did not specify a date for the session. “I will follow the law; I am still in consultation with the NA Secretariat about summoning the session and it will be called in line with the Constitution,” Asad said. Well-informed sources told Daily Times that the speaker’s statement came after he held a meeting with the NA’s legal department to seek opinion on voting of the PTI disgruntled members. According to sources, the speaker was informed that none of the members could be stopped from casting their votes; however, the party could take action against those who violated its policy. Citing Article 63(1)A of the Constitution, the legal department said the law was very clear in this regard. Sources further said the speaker also asked whether he could rule on the disgruntled members before they cast their votes, to which he was informed that the ruling was his prerogative but the relevant laws were very much clear and there’s no confusion. In response to Asad Qaiser’s query whether he could take action against the suspicious members if the party shared their names, the department said the speaker’s role started after a formal declaration from the party chairman Imran Khan on March 8 while according to Article 54 of the Constitution, the NA speaker had a maximum of 14 days to summon a session of the House following the requisition.

After the session has been called, the NA secretary will circulate the notice to the members and the resolution of a vote of no-confidence will be moved on the next working day. From the day the resolution is moved, it “shall not be voted upon before the expiry of three days, or later than seven days,” according to the rules of procedure. Initially, the no-trust motion was only against PM Imran Khan but a day ago the opposition included the NA Speaker and Deputy Speaker as well. According to the joint opposition, the speaker and deputy speaker gave “biased remarks” about the no-trust motion against PM Imran Khan. Subsequently, it had been unanimously decided to table no-confidence motions against the both.

The draft of the no-trust motions against the NA speaker and deputy speaker signed by over 100 MNAs has been sent to the opposition’s leadership. As per the draft of the no-trust move, the NA speaker and his deputy have been accused of being biased. It said the duo had violated the rules as they had not yet resigned from their party’s posts.

The duo has been running the house as per the directions of their party and instead of remaining neutral, they have been exhibiting a biased attitude against the opposition, reads the draft. “AsadQaiser and Qasim Khan Suri have been attending the party meetings held with Prime Minister Imran Khan in the chair,” it added.