PM likely to take vote of confidence on Saturday

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan is likely to seek a vote of confidence afresh from the National Assembly on Saturday, ARY News reported, citing sources.

Prime Minister Khan decided to take a vote of confidence from the lower house of Parliament after the government coalition-backed candidate Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh lost a Senate seat from Islamabad to a joint candidate of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), former premier Yousuf Raza Gilani.

Mr Shaikh suffered defeat at the hands of Gilani in a major upset in yesterday’s Senate polls as the latter secured 169 votes as against 164 bagged by the former. The rejected votes played a key role in the opposition candidate’s win as these exceeded the margin of victory.

Read more: Asif Zardari thanks Nawaz, Fazl for supporting Gilani in Senate polls

Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Shah Mahmood Qureshi had said the prime minister has announced to take a vote of confidence from the Parliament. “The nation will now know as to who is standing on which side,” he had added.

The foreign minister had said that the government tried all its efforts to pave way for Senate elections, however, the opposition foiled all such attempts. He further lamented that the ECP was responsible to hold free and fair polls, however, it failed in performing its duty.