Daily Times

Finally the opposition was allowed on Monday to formally table the much-awaited no-confidence resolution against Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The motion was moved by Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif.

The much-anticipated session of the lower house resumed after two days’ interval under chairmanship of Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri with a 26-point agenda on the schedule list. A government-sponsored constitution amendment bill seeking creation of south Punjab province was also on agenda but could not come under the house’s debate. At the outset of the session, the chair asked Adviser to the Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan to present the first agenda on the item. Soon after this, Leader of the Opposition Shehbaz Sharif requested the chair for permission to present the no-trust motion.

“I will request that you give permission to present this item in the house as the resolution is already on the agenda,” he said addressing Qasim Suri. After the counting of votes, the deputy speaker announced that 161 lawmakers had voted in favour of tabling of the resolution and hence “permission is granted to present the no-confidence resolution”.

He then asked Shehbaz Sharif to present the resolution, at which the opposition leader rose and read out the resolution. Through this resolution, under clause 1 of Article 95 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, this House resolves that it has no confidence in the prime minister, Mr Imran Khan Niazi, and consequently, he shall cease to hold office under clause 4 ibid,” he read from a page visible on his dais.

The deputy speaker asked the members of the lower house to show their favor by standing up on their respective desks so that their numbers could be counted. As per the NA rules, 20 percent of the MNAs present in the assembly must show support for the voting. According to this, 68 members are required to have the no-confidence resolution accepted for voting against the prime minister.

Following the tabling of the resolution, the deputy speaker announced that debate on the resolution would begin on March 31 and he also adjourned the NA meet up until 4pm on March 31. Babar Awan Awan then presented a motion seeking the suspension of the question-answer session for the day under rule 69 of the Rules of Procedures and Conduct of Business in the NA.

Rule 69 states “except otherwise provided in these rules, the first hour of every sitting, after the recitation from the Holy Quran, and taking oath by members, if any, shall be available for asking and answering questions.” “I wish to move under rule 288 of the Rules and Procedures and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly, 2007, that the requirements of rule 69 of the said rules be suspended in respect of the question hour for today, March 20 and the starred question be treated as unstarred,” Awan reads.

The no-trust resolution against the prime minister was earlier expected to be tabled on Friday, but the proceedings were deferred after NA Speaker Asad Qaiser had adjourned the sitting within minutes and ignored Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif who wanted to seek the floor to deliver a speech. Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed had already stated that the voting on the no-trust motion would take place on April 4 if the NA Speaker Asad Qaiser allowed its tabling on Monday hinting that the government could further delay the process.

The sources said that the government deliberately delayed the matter to gain the time to manage its allies and some party’s estranged members.

Under the rules, from the day the resolution is moved, it “shall not be voted upon before the expiry of three days, or later than seven days”.

The minister’s remarks show that the government will take maximum time for putting the resolution to vote, whenever the speaker allows its tabling.

After the decision of Shahzain Bugti of the Jamhoori Watan Party to quit the ruling coalition, the number of treasury members has now reduced to 178 in the 342-member lower house of the parliament whereas the opposition now enjoys the support of 163 MNAs.

Besides members, over a dozen PTI dissident MNAs have already come into the open with their criticism of the government policies, indicating that they might support the opposition’s no-trust motion even at the cost of being disqualified as NA members.