Friday, 25 March, 2022 I 21 shaʽban, 1443 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XII No 266 I 12 Pages I Islamabad edition
CruCial NatioNal assembly sessioN today to deCide oN imraN KhaN’s premiership g
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house is liKely to be adjourned without business today due to demise of Khayal Zaman mna
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15-point heavy agenda suggests no trust motion may be moved on monday
152 opposition members have moved no trust move against imran Khan
ISLAMABAD
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Mian abrar
crucial session of the national assembly is all set to meet today at 11am to deliberate on the opposition’s no-confidence resolution against prime minister imran Khan. the session, which will be the 41st of the current national assembly, has been summoned after the joint opposition made the requisition for it under article 54 of the Constitution along with the submission of the no-confidence motion
against the prime minister on march 8. national assembly speaker asad Qaisar has summoned the session at the parliament house at 11:00am. according to the 15-point agenda issued by the national assembly secretariat, around 147 members of the national assembly have moved the motion seeking grant of leave to move no trust motion against prime minister Khan. all members of the motion belong to the opposition benches and none of the pti rebels have moved the motion. “that leave be granted to move resolution for vote of no confidence under
article 95 (1) of the Constitution of the islamic republic of pakistan, read with rule 37 of the rules and procedures and Conduct of business in the national assembly, 2007, against mr. imran Khan, the prime minister of the islamic republic of pakistan,” reads the agenda, a copy of which is available with pakistan today. meanwhile, 152 mnas have moved the no trust motion against prime minister Khan if leave is granted. “this house is of the view that the prime minister of pakistan mr imran Khan, has lost the confidence of the majority of the members of the national assembly of pakistan, therefore, he should cease to hold office,” the motion reads. however, according to sources, the national assembly session is likely to be adjourned today without taking up any business due to demise of Khayal Zaman mna. Khayal Zaman, the pti lawmaker from Kurram agency, had recently died due after suffering from cancer disease. “as per the parliamentary tradition, there is no business in the house on the first day of the new session after any sitting lawmaker dies,” an official told pakistan today requesting anonymity. other than the no trust motion, there is a heavy business as 15-point agenda items reflect that speaker national assembly may not take up the no trust motion today.
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Not counting MP’s votes during no confidence session tantamount to contempt: Bandial ISLAMABAD staff report
Chief justice of pakistan (Cjp) umar ata bandial on thursday said discarding lawmakers’ vote during the no-confidence motion against the prime minister is “insulting” and added that a member of the national assembly (mna) cannot be barred from voting. a larger bench of the top court heard the presidential reference which sought an interpretation of article 63-a of the Constitution which deals with the disqualification of the parliamentarians over defection. the fiver-member apex bench which was led by Chief justice of pakistan (Cjp) umar ata bandial – also included justice mazhar alam Khan miankhel, justice ijazul ahsan, justice munib akhtar and justice jamal Khan mandokhail. during the hearing, the Cjp said that apex court, under advisory jurisdiction, could not fill blanks as could be done through parliament. justice mandokhail referred to articles 55 and 95 which mentioned
the mna’s right to vote. justice miankhel also asked agp Khalid jawed Khan whether he wanted to make the party head like a king. another member of the apex bench, justice ijaz ul ahsan asked the agp regarding the scope of the election Commission of pakistan’s (eCp ) inquiry under article 63 of the Constitution justice ahsan noted that the eCp would examine procedural lapses during the inquiry and noted that the Constitution does not justify defection under article 63-a of the Constitution. the Cjp also asked agp that the government should not link with the court’s opinion in this case. when the agp read out the benazir bhutto case judgment, wherein certain observations were given against horse-trading and floor crossing, the chief justice said that the judgment was an issue and article 63-a was inserted through the 18th amendment in 2010. ResPoNses: pti, pml-n, jui-f and the supreme Court bar association (sCba) also submitted written replies today.
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