Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid on Thursday said National Assembly (NA) Speaker Asad Qaiser holds the right to disqualify members who "crossed floor" in the lower house while stating that members of National Assembly (MNAs) of the ruling PTI will skip the session on the no-confidence motion altogether.

The interior minister made the remarks while speaking to the media in Islamabad. The comments come in the aftermath of the joint opposition submitting a no-trust motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday along with a formal request to requisition the NA.

The strategy was shared earlier by Adviser to the Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs Dr Babar Awan while speaking to Dawn News TV, who stated that only the NA speaker would be present in the NA on the day of the no-trust move vote.

Important week

Sheikh Rashid minister said the week from March 23-30 would be an "important week" with opposition's nationwide protest march converging in the capital at the same time while it hosts Pakistan Day festivities as well as the foreign ministers meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

He added that the government would let the opposition have its fun as their efforts won't make any difference to Imran Khan's march towards victory. "We will celebrate April Fool's Day with the opposition," he added.

Speaking o the numbers game for the no-trust move, he said that the speaker retains the right to disqualify any PTI member who votes against the wishes of the party head. "All political parties gave this right to the speaker under the 18th Amendment in order to stop horse-trading and this right cannot be challenged by anyone."