ISLAMABAD: The Opposition today (Thursday) filed a no-confidence motion against National Assembly (NA) Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri at the National Assembly Secretariat.
According to details, an extraordinary parliamentary session took place today, where 80 items on the agenda were bulldozed and a record 21 bills passed. The Opposition tried their best to have their voices heard — they identified the lack of quorum, surrounded the speaker dias, and protested, but despite all that, the rules were suspended.
After a walk-out from the session, the Opposition filed a no-confidence motion against Suri under Rule 12 of Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly. The motion states that all the legislation passed today was done so in an illegal manner and that the voices of the people were suppressed.
It further states that a person, who had been de-seated — after which a court stay order was issued — does not have the right to occupy the deputy speaker’s seat. In addition, it says that the deputy speaker had demonstrated a clear bias towards the government on 11 occasions in the session.
With tomorrow’s session to be focused on the presentation of the budget, it is expected that this motion will not immediately be presented before the parliament. Tomorrow’s session, in any case, will be conducted by Speaker Asad Qaiser.
