Pakistan Parliament votes to oust PM Khan

By Al Mayadeen Net
Source: Agencies
9 Apr 2022 23:32
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The Pakistani parliament has voted to oust the country's prime minister from his position with 174 MPs voting in favor of his ousting out of a required 172.

Sign in Islamabad pointing to the direction of the Pakistani National Assembly

The Pakistani opposition's no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Imran Khan and his government has passed the National Assembly with a slight win against MPs who opposed the bid to oust the premier, Pakistani media reported.

The no-confidence vote garnered 174 votes in favor, while the National Assembly has 342 MPs, and the result was announced by PML-N's Ayaz Sadiq, who was chairing the session instead of speaker Asad Qaiser who had resigned minutes before the session started.

According to PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb, Sadiq could not cast his vote as he was chairing the session. PTI MPs' votes were not cast either.

Qaiser asked Sadiq to complete the legal procedure, i.e., hold the no-confidence vote session, for it could not take place without a speaker for the national assembly.

"Because this is a national duty and it is the Supreme Court's decision, I will ask the panel chairman Ayaz Sadiq to run the session," Qaiser said.

Pakistan Dawn news reported that the speaker explained his resignation by saying he could not partake in a foreign conspiracy to oust Prime Minister Khan.

The vote kicked off two minutes before the stroke of midnight local time, and the session was adjourned for four minutes since rules stipulate that the same session could not continue past midnight. The voting process continued two minutes after midnight.

The opposition needed the support of at least 172 lawmakers from a total of 342 to oust the premier, and the motion garnered 174.

Prime Minister Imran Khan had called for the President to dissolve parliament and hold early elections Sunday, a move that took place after members of the National Assembly presented a motion for a vote of no-confidence against the Prime Minister. The deputy speaker of Parliament, however, blocked the motion, ruling it was unconstitutional and part of a foreign conspiracy.