Pakistan: No-confidence motion and aftermath

The joint opposition submitted a no-trust motion against then prime minister of Pakistan Imran Khan on March 8, in the National Assembly Secretariat, which culminated in his removal as the prime minister of the country in the wee hours of April 10, 2022 amid a political drama punctuated with several turns and twists, uncertainty and anxiety about the political and economic future of the country.

The joint opposition, including two major opposition parties, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakitan People’s Party after brain storming for several weeks to unsettle the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf led government of prime minister Imran Khan reached to decision to submit a no-confidence motion against the government, instead of an earlier decision of the resignation from the Parliament and long march to Islamabad.

The PPP had a different opinion with regard to the resignations from the assemblies, which was being touted by the PML-N and some other parties in the opposition alliance the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM).

The PPP convinced the opposition parties to take part in by elections, which were mostly won by the opposition parties. It also came with a political strategy to table the no-confidence motion in the National Assembly against the PTI government with an argument that resignations from the assembly should be a last resort option.

The opposition’s lawmakers submitted the no-trust motion on March 08 under Article 95 against the premier to the National Assembly Secretariat.

The opposition had also filed a requisition notice seeking a session of the lower house of Parliament to table the no-trust motion.

PML-N’s Khawaja Saad Rafique, Marriyum Aurangzeb, Ayaz Sadiq, Rana Sanaullah, PPP’s Naveed Qamar, Shazia Marri and JUI-F’s Shahida Akhtar Ali had submitted the no-trust motion in the NA Secretariat.

Speaking at a joint press conference, the then-Leader of the Opposition Shehbaz Sharif said the motion was presented because of the government’s poor performance in economic and social sectors, also accusing poor governance, political victimisation of opponents, and mismanaging the economy and foreign policy during the three-and-half years tenure of the PTI government.

The was the beginning of a spell of political moves and counter moves between the opposition parties and the government.

The National Assembly Secretariat declared the no-trust motion submitted by the opposition parties, according to the rules after its scrutiny and verification of the signatures of the opposition parties’ members on the no-trust motion as well as the requisition notice for the assembly session.

The legislation department of the National Assembly completed its process and forwarded the file to the Speaker. It recommended to speaker to summon the assembly session any day before March 22.

The NA Secretariat issued notices to the MNAs regarding the no-confidence motion against PM Imran Khan. The notices were issued to the NA lawmakers along with a copy of the no-trust move in accordance with the assembly’s rules and regulations.

Federal government decided to summon the National Assembly session for voting on no-trust motion after the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) moot in Islamabad, which was scheduled for March 22 and 23 in Islamabad. The voting on no-trust move was said to be likely on March 29.

Sindh House Episode

In the lead up to the no-confidence motion, Imran Khan’s PTI also faced defections from some lawmakers, which boosted the opposition’s morale.

The Sindh House in Islamabad became the center of attention amid tussle between PTI government and the opposition after reports surfaced that several MNAs from the ruling PTI, were staying at the place before the vote of the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Raja Riaz — who left the PPP to join PTI in 2016 and after the 2018 general election joined the Jahangir Khan Tareen group within PTI — expressed defiance against Imran Khan. He said that about two dozen PTI MNAs were at the Sindh House.

He alleged that the MNAs in his group were beaten up by the police and taken to the police station. He said that the police also attacked the Parliament Lodges.

The deviant MNAs said that no one had offered them money, and they would listen to their conscience while voting on the no-confidence motion.

Amid tensions between the government and opposition in the wake of the no-confidence motion, then information minister Fawad Chaudhry warned strict action against the opposition’s attempt to buy the loyalty of PTI MNAs.

A group of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers entered Sindh House premises after breaking the main gate during a protest in Islamabad on March 18 against the dissident lawmakers taking shelter at the Sindh House.

Around a dozen of PTI workers were arrested, while two MNAs also surrendered before the police.

PTI defections spark uncertainty in coalition partners

PTI had a miniscule edge in numbers in Parliament over the opposition. This narrow majority was due to the ruling party’s alliance with the PML-Q, MQM-P and the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP).

PTI defections created uncertainty in the allies, which felt at loss if the joint opposition succeeds in their no-trust motion against prime minister Imran Khan. The allies expressed their reservations in talks with the government and posed the question, what if the opposition wins the vote of no-confidence against the government with support from the PTI defectors.

This likelihood of the situation, forced the allied parties to engage in talks with the opposition to get a better deal for their political future.

This dialogue, smartly handled by the opposition, created real prospects for the downfall of the PTI led government.

In the end, two key allies of the government, the MQM-P and the BAP and some independents, changed their loyalty to the government to strengthen the opposition. The PML-Q on the other hand over the promise of CM Punjab’s office from the PTI, withdrew its promise of support to the opposition in the no-confidence vote. However, this decision resulted in a rift between the two elders of the PML-Q.

Speaker’s Ruling

The National Assembly session to vote on no-trust motion, on April 03, was chaired by Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri as the Speaker opted to preside over the session.

The Deputy Speaker Suri ruled to reject a no-trust motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan over having links with the foreign conspiracy.

Earlier, federal minister Fawad Chaudhry presented before the deputy speaker that the no-trust move was brought with the support of a foreign conspiracy and therefore the chair should give its ruling on the matter before deciding on the no-trust move.

The deputy speaker said it has been confirmed that the no trust motion is being brought forward with the international conspiracy and therefore it has been rejected. “The points raised by the law minister are valid and the no trust motion is against the constitution,” he said.

Supreme Court Verdict

The Supreme Court took suo moto notice of the speaker’s ruling on the no-trust motion against PM Imran Khan.

A five-judge larger bench, headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, in a unanimous judgement that declared the NA deputy speaker’s ruling and the subsequent dissolution of the assembly, to be contrary to the constitution and of no legal effect.

The top court ordered the National Assembly speaker to summon a session of the lower house of Parliament on April 9, Saturday to hold voting on the no-trust motion.

The SC ruling will not impact the effectiveness of Article 63 (A), whereas, the top court directed the government not to stop any lawmaker from taking part in the vote of the no-confidence motion.

Fateful NA Session

The National Assembly that began in the morning for the vote on the no-confidence motion protracted till the night amid breaks. Speaker Asad Qaiser late in the night resigned from his office, he announced in parliament.

“I have decided, keeping in view the letter which I’ll share with the Supreme Court, that I can no longer stay at the office of speaker,” Qaiser said.

I’ll ask Ayaz Sadiq from the PML-N to come and complete the legal procedure (hold voting on no-confidence motion), he said.

In result of the vote, which succeeded with 174-0, Imran Khan was removed from the prime minister’s office. It was the first time the no-confidence motion against a prime minister of Pakistan became successful.

Khan’s Counter-Offensive

In the wake of the no-confidence motion, Imran Khan claimed that he possessed a diplomatic cable dated 07 March, in which a “threat” was issued by the US government stating their desire to see his back. The US was allegedly unhappy with Khan’s foreign policy and his visit to Russia.

He alleged that the United States was behind a “foreign conspiracy” to oust him in a regime change, and that he had written evidence attesting to this.

Imran Khan amid a no-confidence motion against him, gave a call for a mass mobilization campaign against the ‘regime-change conspiracy’ against his government.

His call received well in masses and the PTI staged massive rallies in several cities across the country against the so-called ‘conspiracy’.

On the other side the rival parties while succeeding to remove Khan from the PM’s office and electing Shehbaz Sharif the new prime minister, facing formidable political and economic challenges.

Incumbent President in office keeping in check every decision from the government, which ultimately comes to his office for endorsement.

The election of Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz, resulted in ugly scenes in the provincial legislature. His election has been challenged in court and facing several issues indicating a constitutional crisis in Punjab, the power bastion and the largest province of Pakistan.

Governor Omar Sarfaraz Cheema, despite the Prime Minister’s recommendation for his removal from the office still claiming to be the Governor as the President set aside the PM’s advice for his ousting.

Prospects of the country’s economic melt-down

In the post-Imran scenario Pakistan is facing grave and most serious challenges for its economic survival.

PML-N led government of Shehbaz Sharif, facing a big challenge, with regard to increase in energy prices, as per the demand made by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The allies government, considering political consequences of the decision with regard to increase in fuel prices. The PML-N, the major political party of the new government, doesn’t want to go to the elections with political baggage of drastic decisions about the energy prices.

A meeting of the party’s big-wigs in London chaired by former premier Nawaz Sharif, looked into the challenges faced by the government, and set a strategy to tackle economic and political issues of Pakistan.

There is a meeting on card with the coalition partners to take them onboard with regard to the decisions taken in the London meeting of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, as the party wants the allies to share the political baggage of unpopular decisions, required to bring the economy on track.

According to reports, the party also wants an assurance from the powers to be about holding the election after completion of term of the assembly.

Pakistan is passing through a critical phase of its history with challenges that were required to be seriously tackled earlier, now posing an existential threat for the country.