In a shock move, National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri on Sunday dismissed the no-trust move against Prime Minister Imran Khan, terming it against Article 5 of the Constitution.

Suri chaired today's session after opposition parties, in a surprise move, filed a no-confidence motion against Speaker Asad Qaiser.

According to 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

Taking the floor shortly after the session began, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said that loyalty to the state was the basic duty of every citizen under Article 5. 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 informed 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.

Meanwhile, 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."

Opposition gets support of 174 MNAs
Opposition lawmakers earlier appeared confident of the success of the no-trust move as they made their way to Parliament House.

The opposition needs 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 members in the NA, according to a list shared by PML-N's Marriyum Aurangzeb.

The number does not include over a dozen dissidents of the ruling PTI, who have already publicly declared the withdrawal of their support to the prime minister.

Source: Dawn 

BDST: 1400 HRS, APR 03, 2022
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