Leader of Opposition Shahbaz tables no-trust motion in NA against PM Imran

Islamabad: Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Mian Shahbaz Sharif on Monday tabled the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan in the lower house.

Deputy NA Speaker Qasim Suri, who chaired the session, asked the members of the Parliament, who are in favour of the motion, to stand up to that their numbers could be counted.

According to the Constitution, 20 percent of the MNAs present in the assembly must show support for the motion. 

Following the counting of the members who stood up in favour of the motion, the deputy speaker approved a discussion on the no-confidence motion. The Deputy Speaker announced 161 legislators who favoured in tabling of the resolution.  

The resolution, carrying names of 152 movers, was presented by Leader of the Opposition Shehbaz Sharif under Article 95(1) of the Constitution, read with rule 37 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly, 2007.

Around 161 members of the Opposition were present in the House when the motion was moved. Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri was in the Chair.

“This House is of the view that the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mr. Imran Khan, has lost the confidence of the majority of the members of the National Assembly of Pakistan, therefore he should cease to hold office,” the resolution said.

Soon after the motion was tabled, the Deputy Speaker adjourned the House to meet again on Thursday at 4 pm to hold mandatory debate on the no-confidence resolution.

Since the opposition parties submitted the no-trust move with the National Assembly Secretariat on March 8, both treasury and opposition benches claimed a majority to defeat each other on this front in the Lower House of the Parliament.

As per the official data placed on the National Assembly’s website, the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has a total of 155 seats (General 122, Reserved 28 and Minority 5), the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) 84 seats (General 66, Reserved 16 and Minority 2), Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) 56 seats (General 45, Reserved 9 and Minority 2), Independent MNAs four seats, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal Pakistan (MMAP) 15 seats (General 12, Reserved 2 and Minority 1), Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) five seats (General 4 and Reserved 1), Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQMP) seven seats (General 6 and Reserved 1), Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) three seats (General 2 and Reserved 1), Awami Muslim League Pakistan (AMLP) one seat, Balochistan National Party (BNP) four seats (General 3 and Reserved 1), Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) five seats (General 4 and Reserved 1), Awami National Party (ANP) one seat, Jamhoori Wattan Party (JWP) one seat.
The ruling PTI had formed the government in alliance with the MQMP, PML-Q, BAP, GDA, AMLP, JWP and an independent candidate after securing majority seats in the general election-2018.

If looked into the country’s Parliamentary history, no prime minister has so far been removed through a no-confidence vote.

In the past, such motions had been tabled against two prime ministers. The first resolution was moved in 1989 against the then prime minister Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and the second in 2006 to oust PM Shaukat Aziz, but they both had survived the vote.

Earlier, Parliamentary Secretary Makhoom Zain Qureshi introduced a bill further to amend the Constitution [The Constitution (26th Amendment) Bill, 2022] in the House.