ISLAMABAD: On Monday, opposition parties in the National Assembly tabled a joint resolution for the vote of no-confidence against Prime Minister Imran Khan, challenging the majority of the PTI-led coalition government in the 341-seat House (excluding a seat that fell vacant due to demise of MNA Khayal Zaman Orakzai).
The resolution, carrying the 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 4:00 pm to hold a mandatory debate on the no-confidence resolution. While the treasury members of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) stood on their seats and chanted anti-opposition slogans.
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.
