Just don’t watch TV, Qaiser tells people; Eyes rejection of no-trust motion through ‘ruling’
National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser said on Monday he would follow the law during the voting on the no-confidence motion after the Opposition took strong exception to his remarks about the possibility of failure of the no-confidence motion against PM Imran Khan.
In a conversation with journalists in Islamabad, the NA speaker said the no-confidence motion was the Opposition’s constitutional right, but he did not specify a date for the session. “I will follow the law; I am still in consultation with the NA secretariat about summoning the session and it will be called in line with the constitution,” the speaker said.
The speaker’s statement came after he held a meeting with the NA’s legal department to seek an opinion regarding the voting of disgruntled members of the party.
According to sources, the speaker was informed that none of the members can be stopped from casting their votes, however, the party can take action against those who violate its policy.
They further added that citing Article 63(1)A of the Constitution of Pakistan, the legal department said the law is very clear in this regard.
Sources said that the speaker also asked whether he can give a ruling on the disgruntled members before they cast their votes, to which he was informed that ruling was his prerogative but the relevant laws are very much clear and there’s no confusion. In response to Asad Qaiser’s query that whether he can take action against the suspicious members if the party shared their names, the department said that the speaker’s role starts after a formal declaration from the party chairman.
However, addressing a function, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser on Monday tried to play it cool saying things were not as bad as were being portrayed by the media.
Qaiser dispelled the impression that things were going awry for the government. The visibly unfazed speaker advised the nation to hold their nerves and try to watch less TV. People will have less tension if they stop watching Television, he said adding that ‘things are not as bad as are being presented by the media. Meanwhile, the Speaker on Monday discussed an option with Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani to reject no-trust motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan through speaker’s ruling.
According to sources having knowledge of discussion between the two, the speaker consulted chairman Senate to foil the no-trust motion through his ruling. “Asad Qaiser wanted to use a previous ruling of Chairman Senate on 23 July 2019 for the purpose in which Sadiq Sanjrani ruled out a requisition pertaining to the removal of chairman and deputy chairman Senate,” they said.
