PESHAWAR: The opposition political parties on Tuesday submitted no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan under article-95 of the constitution.
The motion was submitted by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl lawmakers – Ayaz Sadiq, Maryam Aurangzeb, Shazia Marri, Shahida Akhtar Ali and Alia Kamran. According to sources, no-trust motion has the signatures of 140 opposition members.
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Speaker Asad Qaiser was not present in his chamber when the opposition politicians arrived at his office file the motion. They also submitted requisition motion for the National Assembly session. According to the rules, the Speaker is bound to convene the session of the assembly within three to seven days of the motion submission.
The PPP politician Shazi Marri said that her party has always been of the view that the “selected” Prime Minister should be removed through constitutional process; therefore, they have submitted the no-confidence motion. The opposition will require 171 votes to oust the prime minister but they claim to have the support over 200 lawmakers.
Earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan slammed the opposition parties and leaders for the move and said that he will be ready to face the move. Imran Khan said that he had reached to the office of Prime Minister after 25 years long struggle. “I will fight them. I am fully prepared for it,” he has told a political rally in Mailsi.
The opposition had been holding consultations for several days to table a motion against the Prime Minister. A day earlier on Monday, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) central leader and former provincial minister Aleem Khan had announced to join the group of “angry” party leader Jahangir Tareen. Khan has said that “they will decide together what to do, if the no-trust motion was brought to the assembly.”
Parties’ position in NA
According to the National Assembly’s website, the ruling party, PTI, has the support of 178 members, including allies. Among these, PTI has 155 members, Mutahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) 7, Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) 5, Pakistan Muslim League – Quaid (PML-Q) 5, Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) has 3, while Awami Muslim League has one member.
On the other hand, the total number of opposition members is 162. The PML-N is leading with 84 lawmakers followed by 57 of Pakistan Peoples Party, 15 of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, four of Balochistan National Party and one member of Awami National Party. In addition, two independent lawmakers are also part of the opposition coalition.
Thus, for a successful no-trust motion, the opposition needs the support of ten more lawmakers. The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), which has one seat in the National Assembly, has not yet announced its final decision on the move. The opposition political parties asked the ruling coalition parties – PML-Q and MQM – as well as Jahangir Tareen group for support. Tareen group claims that it has seven members in the National Assembly. However, the government and opposition political parties have expedited efforts to win over the “angry” lawmakers. The opposition has also claimed the support of 27 members of the PTI and its coalition parties.
MPs barred from living Islamabad
At the PML-N parliamentary party members, the party has directed all members to stay in Islamabad for next 20 days initially. The lawmakers have been directed that the next three weeks are very important. The PML-N President and leader of opposition in National Assembly, Shahbaz Sharif, has said that the government will suffer a “historic” defeat in no-trust motion voting. The PML-N parliamentary leader Khawaja Muhammad Asif was also optimistic about the success of the no-confidence motion.
‘Allies stand with PTI’
While talking with media Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser said that it is the constitutional right of the opposition to submit no trust motion. Responding to a question about PTI MNAs, Qaiser said that PTI lawmakers stand with the party. He said, “Sometimes differences arise but differences are part of the democratic process.” The Speaker National Assembly further said that PTI is in touch with its ally PML-Q and other parties.
However, Qaiser did not comment on the possible change of government in Punjab or the ‘angry’ party members – Jahangir Tareen and Aleem Khan.