Senator Ali Zafar on Wednesday said that President Dr Arif Alvi can ask Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to obtain a vote of confidence in the National Assembly to demonstrate that the premier still commands the confidence of majority lawmakers in the lower house of the parliament.
When questioned by a news anchor that if, after Tuesday’s verdict of the Supreme Court, President Arif Alvi can insist Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif show his majority in the National Assembly, Zafar said it is possible.
“Yes, the president can ask the prime minister to do so,” Zafar replied, “There is only a difference of two votes [in favour of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif]. Both these votes are from the PML-Q [Pakistan Muslim League-Q].”
The two parliamentarians, Zafar was referring to, are PML-Q’s Salik Hussain and Tariq Bashir Cheema. Both are federal ministers in the current government.
While Hussain and Cheema had sided with the coalition government of Prime Minister Sharif, two other senior members of their party, Pervez Elahi and Moonis Elahi, had decided to support Sharif’s rival, former prime minister Imran Khan.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Supreme Court had ruled that if a lawmaker crosses party lines during voting in the lower house, then his or her vote would be discarded.
