Pak Opposition meets NA Speaker, urges him to carry out vote on no-trust motion against PM Khan

ISLAMABAD: A delegation of Pakistan

Opposition

leaders met with

National Assembly

Speaker Asad Qaiser in his chamber on Saturday and demanded immediate voting on the no-confidence motion that could seal the fate of embattled Prime Minister Imran Khan, following the adjournment of the session over ruckus in Parliament.

The historic session of the National Assembly to decide the fate of Prime Minister Khan began on Saturday. Shortly afterwards, however, Speaker Qaiser decided to adjourn the session when Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly

Shehbaz Sharif

took the floor on point of order and made a small speech reminding the Speaker that he was bound to go ahead as per the top court's order.

During his speech, the lawmakers of Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) kept interrupting by constantly speaking and kept calling him a “beggar” — a tacit reference to his recent statement where he said, "beggars can't be choosers".

Following the adjournment of the National Assembly (NA) session, a delegation of the joint opposition met with Speaker National Assembly Qaiser in his chamber to again urge him to carry out his constitutional responsibility towards the house, The Express Tribune newspaper reported.

The Opposition demanded the voting on the no-confidence resolution take place on Saturday, as per the Supreme Court's orders.

The delegation maintained that the house should be run as per the apex court's ruling, adding that the lawmakers from the

treasury

benches were intentionally creating a ruckus in the parliament.

The joint opposition's delegation also consisted of PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto.

The Opposition parties need 172 members in the 342-member house to orchestrate the downfall of Prime Minister Khan. They have garnered the support of more than the needed strength with the help of some allies of the ruling coalition and rebels from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party of the 69-year-old cricketer-turned-politician.

In a landmark 5-0 verdict on Thursday, a five-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial ruled that NA deputy speaker Qasim Suri's ruling rejecting a no-confidence motion against Khan was "contrary to the Constitution”.

The apex court also declared the advice by Prime Minister Khan to President

Arif Alvi

to dissolve the NA as “unconstitutional" and ordered the speaker of the lower house to call a session on Saturday to organise the no-confidence vote.

Khan, who has effectively lost the majority in the 342-member house, seemed to accept the writing on the wall and urged his supporters to stage peaceful protests across the country when the "new imported government" comes into power on Sunday.

No Pakistani prime minister has ever completed a full five-year term in office.