Ahead of no-trust vote, PTI submits reference against 20 dissident members

Islamabad [Pakistan], April 9 : Ahead of the no-trust vote in National Assembly, the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has submitted a reference against 20 defiant party members to assembly speaker Asad Qaiser with an aim to get them disqualified, reported local media.
The reference, filed on the behalf of PTI chairman Imran Khan under Article 63(A) of Pakistan's constitution, was handed over to the speaker by the party's chief whip Amir Dogar, reported The Nation.
The disqualification is being sought on the fact that the dissident members were elected on PTI's ticket, according to the text of the reference.
The development comes as the National Assembly members are yet to cast their votes on the no-confidence motion despite the passage of several hours of the proceedings.
Notably, even without the support of the dissident members, the joint Opposition has the numbers to oust Imran Khan.
Meanwhile, according to National Assembly Secretariat sources, the session will likely continue till midnight. Further, Imran Khan has summoned a meeting of the federal cabinet at 9 pm.
The Supreme Court had on Thursday ordered the incumbent government to face the no-confidence motion on Saturday. The court had turned down the ruling of the Deputy Speaker to reject the no-confidence motion.
The top court's directives came after Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial took suo motu cognisance of Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri's ruling and the subsequent dissolution of the National Assembly, declaring all the decisions unconstitutional.
The court also fixed the Saturday session with the conditions that the session cannot be prorogued unless the motion is voted upon, and in case Imran Khan loses the no-trust vote, the next PM has to be elected in the same session.