Pak Assembly Adjourned Minutes After MPs Demand Voting on No-Trust Motion

The Pakistan National Assembly's proceedings have been adjourned till 3 April.

File image of Pakistan PM Imran Khan. 

(Photo: Facebook/@ImranKhanOfficial)

The National Assembly session to debate the no-confidence motion against Pakistan Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan was adjourned till 3 April, minutes after it began on Thursday, 31 March. The session will now resume at 11:30 am (PST) on Sunday.

More than 172 members from the Opposition benches were in attendance on Thursday. As the session kicked off, all the Opposition members demanded that the deputy speaker allow voting on the no-confidence motion.

National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri said due to the "non-serious" attitude of the Opposition lawmakers, the session was being adjourned till Sunday. This came almost 10 minutes after the session had begun.

PM Imran Khan lost the majority in the Lower House after PTI's allies – Muttahida Qaumi Movement (Pakistan), Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), Jamhoori Wattan Party (JWP), independent MNA from Balochistan Aslam Bhootani – decided to side with the Opposition.

On Wednesday, Imran Khan had said that he would not resign and "fight till the last ball."

Meanwhile, backdoor talks between Imran Khan's party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the joint Opposition are currently underway to dissolve the Lower House of the National Assembly, news agency PTI reported on Thursday, 31 March.

Background

Pakistan's Opposition blamed Khan's government for the economic crisis and the rising inflation in the country.

On 8 March, a motion of no confidence was submitted to the National Assembly Secretariat by the Opposition parties.

It was tabled in parliament on 28 March, with the vote scheduled for 3 April.

Khan had claimed a few days ago that he had support of the military, but a Pakistan Army spokesman last week told Pakistani media that the military would remain neutral.

"Only animals are neutral," Khan had responded while addressing a huge rally in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan.

Meanwhile, MQM-P's party convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, who made the announcement of the party joining the Opposition, called it a "historic moment", claiming that the party had "prioritised Pakistan's interests over all individual interests."

"I expect that this time we can [strive for] a democracy whose effects can reach the common people of Pakistan. We have joined you (the Opposition) on this journey with these expectations. We have no individual or party benefits. Every clause of our agreement is for the common public of Pakistan."

Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui for MQM-P, quoted by Dawn

PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari stated on 30 March that Leader of the Opposition Shahbaz Sharif, the brother of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, would become the next prime minister of the country.