ISLAMABAD: The vote on the no-trust motion moved against the prime minister by the multi-party Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) alliance of opposition groups will be held on March 28, Senator Faisal Javed Khan confirmed Monday.
The motion seeking the ouster of Imran Khan was submitted to the office of National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser on Tuesday. It accused him of mismanaging the economy and poor governance in the toughest challenge he has faced since taking power in 2018.
With the help of several smaller parties, the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party holds a narrow majority in the National Assembly. It has 179 seats in the 342-member House, only seven more than required for a simple majority.
If none of the MPs from the ranks of the prime minister’s allies or the PTI vote against him, he will likely succeed. However, the PTI is currently facing a split because of an internal revolt by some members.
The opposition, on the other hand, has 162 members and needs a simple majority of 172 to topple the government.
Should Khan fail to win approval, the parliament will have to choose a new prime minister.
Khan has vowed to fight any move to unseat him. “Whatever they do, I’m ready for that,” he told a gathering in Islamabad last week.
Meanwhile, the PTI will hold a power show at the D-Chowk neighbourhood of Islamabad on March 27, the senator further confirmed.
The party in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad has started preparations to hold the public gathering.
MPs from the cities called on the prime minister on Saturday and he constituted a four-member committee led by Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar to arrange the public meeting.
Separately, a statement issued by the media cell of PTI quoted Umar as saying the party was anticipating a “sea of people” at the rally.
“We will welcome a sea of people at Islamabad’s D-Chowk on March 27. We will write down history,” he said, calling on his party’s members and supporters to prepare for the “largest rally in Pakistan’s history”.
کپتان نے ڈی چوک اسلام آباد جلسے کا حتمی فیصلہ کر لیا…. انشاءاللہ 27 مارچ کو تاریخ ساز اجتماع ہونے جا رہا ہے. دنیا دیکھے گی پاکستان کی عوام کیسے اپنی آزادی اور خودمختاری کے لئے اپنے کپتان کے ساتھ کھڑے ہوتے ہیں
— Asad Umar (@Asad_Umar) March 14, 2022
On the other hand, the opposition PPP and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have also asked their workers in the twin cities to be ready for coming to the capital.
LAWMAKERS OF PTI, ALLIES TO SKIP SESSION
Meanwhile, the MPs of the PTI and members of the ruling coalition it leads will not be present in the House on the day the resolution will be taken up for voting, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan said last Wednesday.
Awan said that only Speaker Qaiser will be present at the session before adding that “I do not have a vote so I, too, will go”.
The PM’s adviser said that the session for voting on the no-confidence motion was likely to be called at a place other than the usual as “the floor of the House where sessions take place is being renovated.”
