NA session underway for PM Imran Khan vote of confidence
Prime Minister Imran Khan will shortly take a vote of confidence — in a show of strength after the recent Senate upset — during a special session of the National Assembly.
The National Assembly session during which Prime Minister Imran Khan will seek a vote of confidence has started.
NA Speaker Asad Qaiser is chairing the 30th session of the NA which was convened by the president on the advice of the prime minister.
PM Imran Khan had sought to seek the vote of confidence from the assembly after the shocking defeat of PTI candidate for the Senate seat on March 3.
The Opposition parties have boycotted the session asking the government to resign immediately as it has lost the trust of the house.
Earlier, while talking to the media, the federal ministers said that the premier will get the majority vote as all the PTI members are present in the NA.
Show of strength
PM Imran had announced earlier this week PM Imran Khan vote of confidence that he would seek a vote of confidence from his party’s lawmakers, following an upset in the Senate election on March 3. While the ruling PTI made gains, it experienced a shocking upset on the Islamabad seat where PPP’s Yousuf Raza Gilani bagged 169 votes, defeating the government’s nominee, Hafeez Shaikh, who received 164 votes, meaning that several ruling alliance MNAs had voted for the Pakistan Democratic Movement candidate.
This is the first time a prime minister has undertaken such an exercise after the passage of the 18th Amendment.
Prior to this, the law required every prime minister to take a vote of confidence from the Assembly within 30 days of being elected — a vote that Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif, and other prime ministers of the past had to seek after their election.
Since 2010, however, the law does not require such a practice. In fact, according to clause 7 of Article 91 of the Constitution, the president “shall not exercise his powers under this clause unless he is satisfied that the prime minister does not command the confidence of the majority” in the Assembly.
Scuffle outside NA
Meanwhile, dozens of PTI supporters have gathered outside the Parliament Lodges, holding up banners and chanting slogans in support of PM Imran.
PML-N leaders, including ex-premier Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Ahsan Iqbal, Mosaddeq Malik, Maryum Aurangzeb and Khurram Dastgir, also arrived outside the lodges and held a press conference to criticize the premier’s move for a trust vote.
Abbasi said the PM did not have the power to go for a trust vote according to the Constitution, adding that this power rested with the president only if he believed the premier had lost the confidence of the legislature.
After the presser, however, the PML-N leaders alleged they were harassed and manhandled by PTI supporters present at the site, adding that there was no police or security for their protection.
The assault video. pic.twitter.com/3rjYVC9qOc
— Syed Talat Hussain (@TalatHussain12) March 6, 2021
Abbasi said the PM did not have the power to go for a trust vote according to the Constitution. Adding that this power rested with the president only if he believed the premier had lost the confidence of the legislature.
After the presser, however, the PML-N leaders alleged they were harassed and manhandled by PTI supporters present at the site. Adding that there was no police or security for their protection.
A fuming Abbasi said such behavior was reflective of the PTI’s tactics and challenged them to a face-off on the road “in front of the cameras”.
However, the PM’s focal person on digital media. Arslan Khalid claimed that the PML-N leaders began the scuffle by attacking PTI supporters around them. Adding that the media was “misreporting the facts”.
