Within minutes of the commencement of the crucial National Assembly session wherein the debate on no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan would be scheduled to be held, Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri has adjourned the session till 11:30am Sunday.
As Suri opened the floor for the question answer session, the opposition MNAs demanded of the speaker to immediately take up the vote on the no-confidence motion. However, the deputy speaker responded that no lawmaker seemed serious about the questions answers session and adjourned the session.
The all-important NA session to debate the united opposition's no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan was scheduled to be held at 4pm today.
On March 28, leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, Shehbaz Sharif, presented the no-confidence motion against the premier, which had been tabled with the support of 161 members. Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri, who was presiding over the session, accepted the motion after a headcount of those in favour of it being tabled.
Earlier on March 25, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser adjourned the house session, without tabling the no-confidence resolution against the premier, to honour the parliamentarians that had passed away, as per long-standing tradition.
Following Muttahida Quami Movement-Pakistan's (MQM-P) decision to part ways with the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the number of lawmakers on treasury benches has been reduced to 164, with 155 PTI MNAs, four from Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), three MNAs from the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), one MNA from the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) and one MNA from the Awami Muslim League (AML).
MQM-P formally parts ways with ruling PTI, joins united opposition
On the other hand, the united opposition surpassed the number of lawmakers needed for a simple majority, 172, with 84 MNAs from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), 56 from Pakistan People's Party (PPP), 15 from Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, seven from MQM-P, four MNAs from BAP, four individual MNAs, one MNA from the Jamhori Watan Party, one MNA from PML-Q and one MNA from Awami National Party. The total number of lawmakers siding with the opposition against the prime minister in the National Assembly stood at 177.
Meanwhile, at least 22 dissident MNAs of the ruling PTI were also supporting the united opposition in the no-confidence motion against the premier, according to different reports.
