Shawdesh Desk:

Despite the PTI government’s hectic efforts to avoid voting on the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan, the historic session of the National Assembly to decide his fate began on Saturday at 10:30 am. Shortly afterwards, however, Speaker Asad Qaiser decided to adjourn the session for 1 hour and 30 minutes, reports Geo Tv,

At the beginning of the session, the speaker allowed the Leader of the Opposition Shahbaz Sharif to begin his speech. But as soon as he started speaking, several of the 151 PTI MNAs present in the house started interrupting his speech by chanting slogans.

Shahbaz told the speaker to conduct the session as per the order of the Supreme Court and added that today, the Opposition will oust the “selected” prime minister by adopting a lawful and constitutional procedure.

At this, the speaker interjected a remark and said that the house should hold a discussion about the “foreign conspiracy” hatched against the PTI government. In response, the PML-N president stood up and reminded Qaiser that he is “duty-bound to follow the orders of the Supreme Court.”

‘Disappointed with SC’s decision, but we will abide by it’: Qureshi

Speaking during the session, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi accepted that according to Constitution, it is the right of the Opposition to submit a no-confidence motion, while it is the government’s responsibility to defend itself from the motion.

Citing PM Imran Khan’s April 8 address to the nation, he said that to honour the Constitution is the responsibility of all Pakistani and “just like the premier said although we are disappointed with Supreme Court’s judgment we still abide by the verdict.”

Qureshi mentioned that “unfortunately, the history of Pakistani is full of cases regarding constitutional violations”. He highlighted that on October 12, 1999, the Constitution was blatantly violated and when the case was presented at the Supreme Court, decisions taken were against the law.

Addressing the speaker, Qureshi said that being the vice-chairman of the PTI, he wants to present the opinion of PM Imran Khan.

He said that according to the judgment of the Supreme Court, “today is April 3”, however, he said that he does not want to get into the details of what happened last Sunday and how “doors of all offices were opened on a weekend.”

The foreign minister reiterated that the Opposition had been demanding fresh elections for the last four years; and when PM Imran Khan suggested that people should decide the country’s fate, “the Opposition staged a drama”.

Regarding the joint Opposition’s decision to approach the court, he said that when the deputy speaker was chairing the session — which was decried by the Opposition and the court passed the judgment against it — the deputy speaker never denied the constitutional process but “merely  highlighted that a new development has come to the fore and a probe should be held in this regard.”

Qureshi said that the deputy speaker, therefore, adjourned the session for an indefinite period because the issue of the “foreign conspiracy” was under discussion.

Session adjourned till 12:30pm

Meanwhile, the Opposition continued to chant the slogan “voting karwao, voting karwao” during Qureshi’s speech. Following the ensuing ruckus, the speaker decided to adjourn the session until 12:30pm.

Supreme Court’s order

The Supreme Court had on Thursday ordered the government to hold voting on the motion on Saturday at all costs according to the agenda issued for April 3 session when the deputy speaker rejected the motion through a ruling declaring it “unconstitutional” and a “foreign conspiracy”.

What will happen if no-confidence motion succeeds against PM Imran Khan?

The top court’s directives came after Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial took suo motu notice of Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri’s ruling and the subsequent dissolution of the assembly, declaring all the decisions unconstitutional.

As per the order of the Supreme Court voting is to be held at all costs today and in case the PM is voted out, the election of a new Leader of the House will be held during the same session. The voting on the no-confidence motion is at the fourth position in the six-point agenda issued for today.

Speaker Asad Qaiser could not take up agenda other than voting on the motion and if he did not do so, he would have to face contempt of court proceedings.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Opposition has submitted the no-confidence motions against the speaker and deputy speaker, however, Asad Qaiser can chair today’s session according to the rules.

Opposition leaders meet NA speaker

Prior to the session, a delegation of senior Opposition leaders, including Ayaz Sadiq, Rana Sanaullah and Saad Rafiqui, met NA Speaker Asad Qaiser.

During the brief meeting, the Opposition members reiterated the Supreme Court’s verdict and discussed the orders and rules of the assembly.

The Opposition delegation clarified that “no other agenda can be taken in line with the orders of the court and the rules of the assembly.”

“The no-confidence motion is a parliamentary, democratic, and constitutional initiative,” the delegation told the NA speaker.

They warned Qaiser that if anything else is discussed, it will be “contempt of court and unconstitutional.”

‘I had seen proofs regarding foreign conspiracy’: NA deputy speaker

Speaking to Geo News, NA Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri said that he is a “patriotic person” and passed the April 3 ruling on the basis of facts.

“I did not breach any law I had seen the proofs regarding the ‘foreign conspiracy’ and ‘threat letter’ before passing the ruling,” he maintained.

It is worth mentioning that out of the 133 members of the treasury benches only 51 MNAs are present in the assembly.

NA speaker duty-bound to proceed with no-trust motion

The National Assembly officials told Geo News that according to the SC larger bench’s written order, the NA Speaker has been made duty-bound to proceed with the no-trust motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan as per the April 3 agenda of the National Assembly.

The NA officials said that the voting on the no-trust motion could take place within seven days of its submission and last Sunday (April 3) was the last day of voting, so SC’s larger bench ordered the speaker to revive the April 3 agenda of the National Assembly and conduct voting on the no-confidence motion. Therefore, today (April 9) will be considered the last day (seventh day) of voting on the no-confidence motion and it is essential to move with the set agenda.

They said that it is written in the para 10 of the SC order if no trust motion succeeds, the NA speaker will make sure to elect the Leader of the House as per Article 91 of the Constitution and Article 32 of Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly.

The NA officials said if the no-trust motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan succeeds, the National Assembly session will be prorogued till Sunday for the election of the new Leader of the House and the National Assembly Secretariat would begin with its necessary documentation.

The NA Secretariat, prior to the session, prepared forms for the nomination of the new Leader of the House and those forms would be issued as soon as the session is prorogued and scrutiny of the nomination forms will be completed till night and the list of the candidates for PM’s slot will be issued at night and after that, the National Assembly will elect new prime minister on Sunday.

To a question that the government wants to hold a debate on the issue of the letter, the NA official said it was impossible. They said the government will have to submit a separate resolution in the NA Secretariat for the debate on the letter and briefing of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs secretary to the House and will have to seek the permission of the House if the House should be converted into a standing committee. The Opposition enjoys its majority in the House, so it can reject this resolution.

When asked if the government tried to get the voting on the no-trust motion delayed for a day or a week, the NA official said that in this situation, the NA Speaker would violate SC’s larger bench order and should get ready to face a five-year disqualification and contempt of court.

Govt’s strategy

On the other hand, the ruling party has prepared its strategy to scuttle the proceedings and delay the voting by allowing MPs lengthy speeches on the ‘foreign conspiracy”.

The same was endorsed by Federal Minister for Information Fawad Chauhdry.

Talking to Geo News, he said that the foreign secretary is going to brief the House on the “threat letter”, so the voting on no-confidence may not happen and may be deferred till next week.