National

Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri adjourns NA session till Sunday after opposition’s protest

ISLAMABAD, Mar 31 (SABAH): The crucial National Assembly session to debate the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan, which resumed after a three-day recess on Thursday, was adjourned minutes after it began.

Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri, who presided over the session, adjourned the session till 11:30am on Sunday. The session was attended by 172 members of the opposition parties.

At the beginning of the session, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs Dr. Zaheeruddin Babar Awan moved a motion to adjourn the session so the assembly hall could be used for the Parliamentary Committee on National Security’s meeting that is scheduled to be held at 6pm. The motion was rejected after voting.

Subsequently, the deputy speaker opened the floor for questions. The opposition MNAs Tahira Aurangzeb, Shazia Ata Marri, Marriyum Aurangzeb and Sheikh Rohale Asghar, however, continued to insist that the speaker call for a vote on the no-confidence motion today amid chants of “go Imran go”.

Terming the opposition’s attitude “non-serious”, Qasim Khan Suri adjourned the session till Sunday when the vote on the no-confidence motion is expected to take place.

He also announced that the meeting of the parliamentary committee would be held in Committee Room No 2.

The resolution against the embattled premier was tabled by the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif on March 28 and it was approved for debate the very same day.

According to a 24-point agenda issued ahead of the session, the debate on the no-trust motion against the PM was fourth in order.

PM Imran Khan has seemingly lost the majority in the lower house after PTI’s allies — MQM-P, BAP, JWP, independent MNA from Balochistan Aslam Bhootani — decided to side with the Opposition.

Following the adjournment of the session, PML-N Spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said the government is comprised of “cowards” who just talk big outside the parliament.

“They never allow the parliamentary proceedings to move forward […] during the question and answer session, every lawmaker asked when will the voting on no-confidence motion take place,” she told a private TV channel.

The PML-N leader claimed the treasury benches were chanting and wanted to clash with the Opposition. “Don’t they have any manners?” Aurangzeb asked.

On the boycott of the National Assembly’s Security Committee meeting, the PML-N spokesperson said the Opposition was not informed about it. “We got to know about it through media, thus we are boycotting it.”