March 28th, 2022
Staff Report
LAHORE
After filing a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan, the united opposition has now submitted the same in the Punjab Assembly against incumbent Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar. According to reports, the motion was signed by some 126 members of the assembly.
“The CM has lost the confidence of the majority of the assembly because he is not running the province in line with the guidance of the constitution and is making policies which are detrimental to democracy in the province,” says the text of the motion, a copy of which is available with Voicepk.net.
Along with the motion, around 120 members have also submitted a requisition letter to the speaker, calling for a session of the house. As per the rules, a session has to be called when 74 members request so.
Chaudhry Pervaiz Ilahi, the Speaker of the assembly, is bound to call the motion to vote within the next 14 days. Journalists and analysts speculate that since a no-confidence motion has been submitted against the CM, he will now be unable to dissolve the assembly.The ruling Pakistan Tehreek Insaaf (PTI) has 183 members in the Punjab Assembly and had been governing the province in close alliance with the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) which has 10 members in the assembly. As for the opposition, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) have 165 and seven members in the assembly respectively. Five members of the assembly are independent, while one representative belongs to the Rah-e-Haq Party.
The opposition requires 186 seats in the provincial assembly to dislodge the ruling party’s CM. The move comes only a day after the Prime Minister staged a power show in Islamabad’s parade ground, declaring the opposition’s no-confidence motion against him “a foreign conspiracy.”
With the PML-Q, the independents, and some disgruntled members of the ruling party are expected to cross the floor, the no-confidence vote is not expected to go the government’s way.
Meanwhile, the Punjab Government has vowed to push back against the opposition’s efforts, and a delegation of the PTI comprising party bigwigs is expected to meet members of the PML-Q today to put their votes in the government’s basket.