No-confidence motion against Pakistan Prime Minister
The no-trust motion against Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was dismissed by Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri.
Soon after delivering a yorker to his opponents by obtaining presidential consent for the dissolution of Parliament on Sunday, the allied opposition of Pakistan chose a speaker and held a parallel session. The no-confidence vote against the Prime Minister had already been thrown out. In an unprecedented turn of events, Ayaz Sadiq, a member of the panel of chairpersons announced by Speaker Asad Qaiser at the opening of the assembly session on March 25, presided over the session. He assumed the role of speaker, and the opposition declared the motion successful with 197 votes.
Khan was widely expected to lose the no-trust vote moved by an alliance of Opposition politicians, including more than a dozen defectors from his political party, in the National Assembly.
But in a surprise reprieve for the 69-year-old cricketer-turned-politician, the no-confidence motion was dismissed as “unconstitutional” by deputy speaker Qasim Suri, leading to vociferous protests by the opposition.
Khan, who had effectively lost the majority in the 342-member National Assembly, made a brief address to the nation in which he said he has recommended the dissolution of the House and sought fresh elections.
Khan, head of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, congratulated the nation on the no-trust motion being dismissed, saying the g the deputy speaker had “rejected the attempt of changing the regime [and] the foreign conspiracy.
Hearing In Pakistan Apex Court on April 4
Chief Justice Bandial observed that public order must be maintained. No state functionary shall take any “extra-constitutional” steps in the prevailing political situation. Adding that all orders and actions initiated by the Prime Minister and the President regarding the dissolution of the National Assembly will be subject to the court’s order. The top court adjourned the hearing till Monday.
Earlier, Deputy Speaker Suri dismissed the no-confidence motion moved by the Opposition against Prime Minister Khan, terming it against the Constitution and rules of Pakistan. “The no-confidence should be according to the Constitution of and rules of the country. Since it is not as pointed out by the Law Minister, so I reject the no-confidence motion,” Mr Suri ruled, amid vociferous protest by Opposition lawmakers.
Mr. Suri chaired the crucial session after Opposition parties filed a no-confidence motion against Speaker Asad Qaiser.
Author – Simran Chandel
