The important session of the Pakistan National Assembly on a no-trust motion against embattled Prime Minister Imran Khan was adjourned on Friday without the resolution being tabled, despite loud protests from opposition legislators. Because of the death of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf lawmaker Khayal Zaman on February 14, the National Assembly session was deferred until 4 p.m. on March 28.
The first sitting after a lawmaker’s death is confined to prayers for the departed soul and tributes from fellow MPs, according to Pakistani Parliamentary norms.
House was adjourned on Friday
On Friday, several prominent opposition members, including Shehbaz Sharif, the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, the Chairman of the Pakistan Peoples’ Party, and co-chair Asif Ali Zardari, were in Parliament House to participate in the much-anticipated session.
Opposition leaders began protesting as Speaker Qaiser adjourned the session, urging that he take up the motion, but the Speaker did not turn on their microphones and retired to his chamber.
The Speaker stated that the decision on whether or not to take up the motion of no confidence would be made in the next session. According to the rules, voting on the resolution should take place three to seven days after it has been brought before the National Assembly. The National Assembly Secretariat released a 15-point ‘Orders of the Day for the NA session on Thursday, which included the resolution of no confidence.
Khawaja Asif, the leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), tweeted that 159 of the 163 opposition legislators were present in the parliament. It was unclear how many MPs from the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) attended the meeting.
PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif warned at a press conference outside Parliament House shortly after the session was adjourned that if the no-confidence vote was not allowed to move on Monday, they would not be responsible for what happened next.
“Asad Qaiser acted like a PTI worker instead of the National Assembly speaker,” he said, adding that if Qaiser sought to “act as a slave (of Khan),” the opposition will turn to legal and constitutional protests.
He also demanded that the speaker be tried for high treason under Article 6 of the Constitution. “The no-confidence motion will be our democratic weapon.” “We will proceed toward free and fair elections,” Bilawal stated, adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has lost “his majority and government.”
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi requested an apology from Sharif for his tirade against the speaker in response to Sharif’s remarks.
“The comments you used towards Asad Qaiser were unacceptable, and I demand that you immediately retract your remarks,” he stated. Qureshi also debunked rumors that the government was “disappearing” in the wake of the no-confidence vote. “We’ll handle it democratically, politically, and legally.” “Nothing further will take place in the assembly session; everything will take place in Gaddafi Stadium,” Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said earlier, trying to make light of the proceedings in the assembly. He was reportedly alluding to the third Test match between Pakistan and Australia on the final day.
Pakistan has been on edge since Opposition parties filed a no-confidence petition with the National Assembly Secretariat on March 8, stating that Prime Minister Khan’s government is to blame for the country’s economic problems and skyrocketing inflation. Khan, 69, is the leader of a coalition government that might be deposed if some of the coalition partners decide to change sides.
He is up against a revolt from his roughly two dozen parliamentarians and allies, who are similarly hesitant to promise their support to him. Mr. Khan and his ministers are attempting to convey the impression that everything is OK and that he will win the trial. No Pakistani Prime Minister has ever served for the entire five-year term.
Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid, sounding the alarm, suggested on Thursday that early elections could be held in the country to end the current political turmoil.
By late 2023, the next general election will be held in Pakistan
Even as at least three partners of the ruling coalition have signaled that they will vote against Khan’s administration during the no-trust motion, Khan declared on Wednesday that he will not resign at any cost and that he has a “surprise” for the opposition up his sleeve.
Both the government and the opposition have been working nonstop to tip the scales in their favor.
Pakistan’s Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial stated on Thursday that disregarding parliamentarians’ vote in the no-confidence vote against the prime minister would be “insulting,” and that no member of the National Assembly could be excluded from voting.
Chief Justice Bandial is leading a five-member enlarged bench of the Supreme Court to hear a plea from the government seeking Supreme Court guidance on enabling a dissident to vote against party policy and the length of disqualification for voting in parliament against the party line. The legal battle is part of Prime Minister Khan’s political battle with the opposition parties.
In the 342-member National Assembly, the PTI has 155 members, and it needs at least 172 parliamentarians to stay in power. Prime Minister Khan invited the entire country to the ruling party’s power show on March 27 at Islamabad’s Parade Ground, urging citizens to join him in “standing against evil.”