Nadir GuramaniPublished March 8, 2022 - Updated 5 minutes ago
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Senior opposition lawmakers at the NA Speaker's chamber purportedly to submit the no-confidence motion. – DawnNewsTV screenshot
A delegation of senior opposition lawmakers submitted the no-trust motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan with the National Assembly Secretariat on Tuesday, PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said.
The confirmation from her came after a delegation of opposition lawmakers, including Rana Sanaullah, Ayaz Sadiq, Shazia Marri and Marriyum Aurangzeb, had reached Parliament House in Islamabad.
Aurangzeb said National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser was not present in his office which is why the document was submitted with the secretariat.
PPP leader Naveed Qamar said the motion, which calls for the requisition of a National Assembly session, had signatures of more than 100 lawmakers. According to NA rules, in order for a session to be requisitioned to vote on a no-confidence motion, signatures from at least 68 MNAs are required.
In order to make the no-confidence motion against the prime minister successful, the joint opposition requires the support of 172 MNAs. After the filing of the motion, the NA speaker has between three to seven days to summon a session of the NA to conduct voting.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif and PPP co-chair Asif Ali Zardari are going to hold an important joint press conference shortly to announce "decisions" regarding the no-confidence motion against the government, according to a statement issued by the PML-N.
Opposition on a mission
Maulana Fazl had
announced the alliance's decision to move a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan on February 18, saying that the PDM would reach out to the PTI's allies.
Fazl had said at the time that the opposition alliance had not yet decided whether they would bring the no-confidence motion against National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser as well, adding that consultations within the opposition parties as well as with the legal team were underway.
Since then, Lahore has been abuzz with many political meetings — between opposition parties as well as the PTI and its allies.
Last week, Maulana Fazl had
claimed that the coming days were crucial as the opposition parties would take a final decision regarding submitting a vote of no-confidence motion against the government or requisitioning the session of parliament.
Claiming that opposition parties have the numbers required for the success of the no-confidence motion, he had said they had been trying to get the support of more than 180 members in the 342-member lower house of parliament.
PM Imran says govt will not be ousted and will become stronger; opposition will not be able to "recover until 2028".
www.dawn.com