New Delhi: The National Assembly session to decide Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s fate has been adjourned till 12:30 p.m.
The session of the National Assembly began at 10:30 a.m. under the chairmanship of Speaker Asad Qaiser.
Leader of Opposition in Pakistan’s National Assembly, Shehbaz Sharif, earlier told Speaker Asad Qaiser to conduct the session as per the order of the Supreme Court, PTI reported.
He said that the Opposition will oust the “selected” Prime Minister by adopting a lawful and constitutional procedure.
The Leader of Opposition’s assertion came minutes after the National Assembly began its crucial session to take up a no-confidence resolution against the Prime Minister in line with a landmark Supreme Court order.
The Speaker on his part said that the house should hold a discussion about the “foreign conspiracy” hatched against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government.
The Speaker’s suggestion was, however, met with loud protesting chants from the Opposition members.
Calling on the Speaker to conduct the proceedings in accordance with the Supreme Court’s directives, 70-year-old Sharif stated that the Parliament would be writing history today.
“Today, the Parliament is going to defeat a selected prime minister in a constitutional manner,” he said, PTI reported.
Asserting that the Supreme Court’s directives were clear, Sharif said: “You (Speaker) must cash in on this moment with conviction and with your heart and your mind. Don’t go on the dictation of the selected prime minister.”
The Speaker on his part assured the Leader of Opposition that he would conduct the proceedings according to the law and the Constitution.
Amid protests from the Opposition benches, the Speaker said: “[But] the important thing is that there has been talk of an international conspiracy. This should also be discussed.”
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi while speaking in the National Assembly reiterated that his party has accepted the Supreme Court’s verdict.
He, however, defended Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri’s decision to reject the no-confidence motion on the grounds that a probe must be conducted into the foreign conspiracy angle.
The Opposition parties need 172 members in the 342-member house to orchestrate Prime Minister Khan’s downfall.
They have garnered the support of more than the needed strength with the help of some allies of the ruling coalition and rebels from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party of the 69-year-old cricketer-turned politician.
The cricketer-turned-politician, who has effectively lost the majority in the 342-member house, has urged his supporters to stage peaceful protests across the country when the “new imported government” comes into power on Sunday.