— Law Minister seeks Speaker’s ruling on ‘foreign conspiracy’ of regime change under Article 5(1)
— Dy Speaker rules that No Trust Move was in violation of Article 5(1) hence dismissed per Constitution
ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri on Sunday dismissed the no-trust move against Prime Minister Imran Khan, terming it in violation of Article 5 of the Constitution.
Taking the floor shortly after the NA session began, Law Minister Fawad Chaudhry said that loyalty to the state was the basic duty of every citizen under Article 5(1). He reiterated the premier’s earlier claims that a foreign conspiracy was behind the move to oust the government.
“On March 7, our official ambassador was invited to a meeting attended by the representatives of other countries. The meeting was told that a motion against PM Imran was being presented,” he said, noting that this occurred a day before the opposition formally filed the no-trust move.
“We were told that relations with Pakistan were dependent on the success of the no-confidence motion. We were told that if the motion fails, then Pakistan’s path would be very difficult. This is an operation for a regime change by a foreign government,” he alleged.
The minister questioned how this could be allowed and called on the deputy speaker to decide the constitutionality of the no-trust move.
Suri noted that the motion was presented on March 8 and should be according to the law and the Constitution. “No foreign power shall be allowed to topple an elected government through a conspiracy,” he said, adding that the points raised by the minister were “valid”.
He dismissed the motion, ruling that it was “contradictory” to the law, the Constitution and the rules. The session was later prorogued.
Suri chaired today’s session after opposition parties filed a no-confidence motion against Speaker Asad Qaiser. After the ruling, the chair prorogued the session amid loud sloganeering from the treasury benches.
This sudden move left the opposition leadership and lawmakers stunned and they remain seated surprised while the PTI lawmakers stood up from their seats and started raising slogans against alleged American plot to remove PM Khan under the ‘conspiracy’.
According to the Article 5:
- Loyalty to the State is the basic duty of every citizen
- Obedience to the Constitution and law is the [inviolable] obligation of every citizen wherever he may be and of every other person for the time being within Pakistan
However, that was not the only surprise of the day for the opposition. Shortly after the no-trust motion was dismissed, the prime minister in a brief address to the nation, announced that he had advised the president to dissolve the NA under Article 58 and asked the nation to prepare for fresh elections.
The military distanced itself with the political developments in the country. “Army has nothing to do with the political process,” Major General Babar Iftikhar, the head of the military’s public relations wing, told Reuters in response to a question about the institution’s involvement in Sunday’s developments.
Opposition parties, angered by the NA proceedings, decided to hold their own mock session in the lower house of parliament with PML-N’s Ayaz Sadiq sitting on the speaker’s seat.
During the mock proceedings, 195 lawmakers voted in favour of the no-confidence motion, according to PPP’s Sherry Rehman.
OPPOSITION REFUSES TO LEAVE NA, CALLS RULING ‘ILLEGAL’
Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif termed Sunday’s developments as “nothing short of high treason”.
“Imran Khan has pushed the country into anarchy. Niazi and his cohort will not be allowed to go scot-free. There will be consequences for [the] blatant and brazen violation of the Constitution. Hope the Supreme Court will play its role to uphold the Constitution,” he said.
Speaking to the media in parliament after the NA session, PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari said the ruling by the deputy speaker was “totally illegal” and that the Constitution did not allow the dissolution of assemblies at this stage.
With regards to the dismissal of the no-confidence motion, he said, “The court has sat down. Let’s see what it says.”
He added that “we are prepared for everything … even for elections”.
To a question whether the opposition the deputy speaker’s ruling coming, Zardari replied, “Yes … but one has to go along with what their friends have thought of.”
PPP Chairman Bilawal-Bhutto Zardari said that the government had violated the Constitution by not allowing voting to take place on the no-confidence motion.
“The united opposition is not leaving Parliament. Our lawyers are on their way to Supreme Court. We call on ALL institutions to protect, uphold, defend and implement the Constitution of Pakistan.”
PPP’s Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar termed the government’s move a “blatant violation” of the Constitution and the rules.
“The Supreme Court cannot and should not sit by as a mere spectator. The chief justice should immediately take to the bench and save the country from a constitutional crisis!”
In another tweet, he said that a petition was being prepared by party leaders Farooq Naek and Raza Rabbani. “We should be at the Supreme Court registrar’s office no later than 3:30pm,” he said.
PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz said that no one could be allowed to “distort” the Constitution for the sake of saving their seat. “If this crazy fanatic is not punished for this crime, then the law of the jungle will prevail in the country after today!”
PML-N’s Ahsan Iqbal said PM Imran had proven to the world that he did not possess even an “iota” of decency, grace and honour.
“Having lost the majority in National Assembly, [he] chooses to bulldoze constitution. He will be defeated with unprecedented humiliation in history,” he said.
Meanwhile, Amir Liaquat announced his decision to quit the PTI and called on Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial to restore the National Assembly and ensure voting on the no-trust motion.
DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL ANNOUNCES RESIGNATION
Separately, Deputy Attorney General of Pakistan Raja Khalid Mahmood Khan announced his resignation over Sunday’s NA proceedings.
Lashing out at the government, he said that it was a “clear abrogation of the Constitution” and fell under Article 6, which deals with treason.
Speaking to Geo News, he said that it was a blatant violation of the Constitution when rules and the law were superseded. He claimed that the apex court would take action and declare the NA proceedings null and void.
He predicted that the apex court would rule that the no-trust motion was still pending.
OPPOSITION GETS SUPPORT OF 174 MNAs
The joint opposition — primarily the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) and the PPP — had submitted the no-confidence motion for the premier’s ouster with the NA Secretariat on March 8.
In the days to follow, the country’s political landscape was abuzz with political activity as parties and individuals changed alliances and the PTI and opposition were seen trading barbs and allegations alongside intensifying efforts to ensure their success in the no-confidence contest.
Eventually, major allies of the ruling PTI — Balochistan Awami Party and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan — deserted the government and joined the opposition ranks which led to PM Imran losing his majority in the lower house of parliament.
It was expected that if the voting went ahead, PM Imran would have lost the confidence of the house while the joint opposition had nominated Shehbaz as their candidate for the top post.
Opposition lawmakers on Sunday had appeared confident of the success of the no-trust move as they made their way to Parliament House. The opposition needed the support of at least 172 lawmakers from a total of 342 to oust the premier through the no-trust move.
Opposition parties had managed to cross the magical figure of 172 on Sunday, claiming to enjoy the support of 174 NA members, according to a list shared by PML-N’s Marriyum Aurangzeb.
The number did not include over a dozen dissidents of the ruling PTI, who had publicly declared the withdrawal of their support to the prime minister.
NO-CONFIDENCE MOTION SUBMITTED AGAINST QAISER
Prior to today’s session, the opposition also submitted a no-confidence motion against NA Speaker Asad Qaiser.
The resolution, addressed to the secretary of the National Assembly Secretariat, was submitted by Murtaza Javed Abbasi of the PML-N. The resolution carried the signatures of more than a hundred lawmakers.
Bilawal, who shared an image of the resolution on Twitter, tagged the official handles of PM Imran and Qaiser, with a simple “surprise”.
SECURITY ARRANGEMENTS, PTI WORKERS DETAINED
On Sunday, giant metal containers blocked roads and entrances to the capital’s diplomatic enclave and to Parliament and other sensitive government installations in the capital.
Islamabad police also detained three female workers of the PTI who were protesting and chanting slogans outside Parliament House before the start of the NA session.
A day earlier. the capital administration had imposed a ban on pillion riding and suspended the metro bus service ahead of the National Assembly meeting.
Officials of the capital administration said a two-day ban had been imposed on pillion riding while the metro bus service would remain suspended for one day.
SURPRISE
The opposition arrived in Parliament ready to vote Khan out of power. They needed a simple majority of 172 votes in the 342-seat House to unseat Khan. Khan’s small but key coalition partners along with a dozen of his own party members joined the opposition to oust him.
An embattled Khan, who time and again, has refused to step down and vowed to contest the no-confidence motion, insisted until the last minute to have a “surprise” in store for a confident multi-party opposition alliance, which asserts that it has “more than enough” votes to oust the prime minister.
The prime minister had been facing mounting criticism of his performance, including charges of his management of an economy beset by high inflation and rising deficits, and he lost his majority in the Lower House on Wednesday when the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) quit the ruling coalition.
The pro-establishment party — which threw its lot in with the opposition seeking to oust the prime minister — has seven seats in the Lower House.
Khan required 172 votes to hold power with a simple majority in the 342-member Lower House.
His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which has 155 MPs in the National Assembly, had formed a coalition government with the support of five allied parties in 2018.
The prime minister effectively lost the majority in parliament after three of the five allies — MQM-P, Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), and Jamhoori Wattan Party (JWP) — joined the opposition ranks.
According to the current tally, the PTI and its allied party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), and Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), have 162 members in the Lower House, whereas the opposition claims to have the support of 199 lawmakers.
‘DISCREDITED PROCESS’
On Saturday, Khan indicated that he would not accept an unfavourable vote. “How can I accept the result when the entire process is discredited?” he told foreign journalists at his office on Saturday.
“Democracy functions on moral authority — what moral authority is left after this connivance?”
“The move to oust me is blatant interference in domestic politics by the United States,” he said, terming it an attempt at “regime change”.
RED ZONE SEALED OFF
Meanwhile, footage showed law enforcement personnel sealing off Islamabad’s Red Zone neighbourhood with containers and barb wires to prevent any protests during the no-trust vote.
The sensitive neighbourhood houses the parliament house, the supreme court, the prime minister and president offices, and other important government installations.
The PTI has threatened that it would not let its dissidents vote on the no-trust motion. The Ministry of Interior has called additional 1,500 paramilitary troops to maintain law and order on the day.
On the streets of Islamabad, there was a heavy police and paramilitary presence, with shipping containers used to block off roads, according to a Reuters witness.
KHAN CALLS FOR PROTEST
Khan said that if he wins the no-confidence motion in parliament, he may call a new election.
Speaking to ARY News on Friday, Khan said opposition parties sent him three options through the military establishment: resign, face a no-confidence motion, or announce a fresh election.
“I will not resign,” Khan declared, adding if he wins the no-confidence vote, he may call a new election.
Accusing the US, Pakistan’s longtime ally, of hatching a conspiracy to oust him for his “independent foreign policy,” he blamed the opposition parties for being “stooges of the foreign power.”
Khan on Saturday asked his supporters to take to the streets across the country ahead of the no-confidence vote.
“Come out of your homes today and on Sunday to protest against this big conspiracy. Protest is your right but it should be peaceful and without any violence,” he said.
Responding to live questions from citizens by telephone, he said he has plans to get treason cases lodged against “perpetrators” of the conspiracy, and the party dissidents, who would vote in favour of the no-trust motion.
In a related development, the government on Saturday filed a petition in a court in Lahore, seeking cancellation of a bail the court had granted to Shehbaz, who is the opposition’s candidate for the premiership, and Hamza last year in a money laundering case.
The court has summoned the father and son on April 4.
— With input from Reuters, Anadolu Agency
