| Claims to have support of 202 NA lawmakers | 86 Opposition MPs sign no-confidence motion | Shahbaz, Zardari, Fazl hold press conference | See Imran’s days numbered | Expect move to succeed, nation to soon get rid of this regime
BY Uzma Zafar
ISLAMABAD: The opposition on Tuesday submitted the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan in the National Assembly, seeking to remove the incumbent premier from office.
Senior members of opposition parties submitted the motion to the National Assembly Secretariat. Ayaz Sadiq, Saad Rafique, Maryam Aurangzeb, Rana Sanaullah, Shazia Murree, Naveed Qamar and Shahida Akhtar Ali and Alia Kamran were among those who reached the parliament to submit the motion.
The no-confidence motion was submitted to Additional Secretary of the National Assembly Muhammad Mushtaq with the signatures of 86 members, said sources.
Speaking to the media after submitting the motion, PML-N’s Rana Sanaullah said that “all plans of the government will fail” and the opposition has the required numbers on its side to turn the tables.
Earlier, a meeting of the parliamentary party was held under the chairmanship of PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif in which the PML-N members signed the no-confidence motion.
Meanwhile, the PML-N has also decided to send a delegation to the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) D-Chowk meeting.
The delegation will include Ahsan Iqbal, Khawaja Asif and Maryam Aurangzeb who will attend the meeting.
PML-N spokesperson Maryam Aurangzeb stated, “all the signatures required for the no-confidence motion are present, it is important for Imran Khan to go home”.
On Monday, Prime Minister Imran Khan reiterated that opposition parties were more than welcome to test the water with their no-confidence motion against his government.
The government has been walking a tightrope for the past several weeks and with mounting pressure from the opposition parties, PM Imran was recently forced to significantly slash petrol, diesel, and electricity prices.
In addition, the promise of making South Punjab a separate province has resurfaced and the premier has announced to soon submit a constitutional amendment in the National Assembly.
The failure of his ex-accountability czar to conclude or even bring corruption cases against the opposition leadership to conclusion has severely jolted the ruling party’s mantra of accountability and recovery of “looted money” from ex-rulers standing trial in corruption cases.
Meeting after meeting are taking place for the past few weeks in both government and opposition camps to envisage defeating the other side.
