Voting on no-confidence motion against Pak PM Imran Khan begins
Apr 09, 2022
Islamabad [Pakistan], April 10 : The voting on the no-confidence motion against the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government began in the country's National Assembly late on Saturday night.
The development comes on a dramatic day which saw the National Assembly being adjourned several times till late in the evening.
Meanwhile, Pakistan National Assembly Speaker and Deputy Speaker tendered their resignations amid the high political drama in the country ahead of the no-confidence vote.
Pakistan's Supreme Court, in a historic judgement on Thursday, had fixed the convening of the session of the National Assembly "not later than 10:30 AM on Saturday" after setting aside the ruling that Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri had delivered during the April 3 session of the National Assembly which had rejected the no-confidence motion on "constitutional grounds".
Declaring the ruling of the Deputy Speaker "to be contrary to the Constitution and the law and of no legal effect", the Court set aside all the subsequent steps taken, including the dissolution of the National Assembly, and restored Prime Minister Imran Khan and all the Federal Ministers to their positions as of April 3.
The court also fixed the Saturday session with the conditions that the session cannot be adjourned 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.
The Opposition parties in Pakistan need the support of at least 172 members in order to make the no-confidence motion successful.