President Dr Arif Alvi on Monday summoned a session of the National Assembly on February 18, under Article 54 (1) of the Constitution.

The session would be held on Friday at 10:30 am.

According to political observers, the opposition might not be able to move a vote of no-confidence motion against the prime minister in this coming session of the National Assembly which may continue at the end of February.

The support of allies was important to defeat the government in case of a no-trust motion against the prime minister.

According to the sources, the opposition may prefer to move against National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, as its voting is carried out through secret ballot.

The opposition parties, in the last week, had not limited their contacts with each other but also engaged the main coalition partners of the treasury benches including MQM-P and PML-Q. The support of government key partners in the National Assembly (MQM-P and PML-Q) could prove very helpful for the opposition but it did not happen.

The PTI government successfully managed for smooth passage of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Amendment Bill, 2021 from Senate during previous month (January). The passage of the bill is one of the conditions set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the release of $1 billion to Pakistan.

The sources said that on the other hand, the PTI government also plans to move a resolution in the coming National Assembly session against the Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif.

The resolution will appeal that the opposition leader shall not be permitted to speak in the assembly until a decision comes on his case in the court.

This report was first published in Business Recorder on February 15, 2022.