PM Khan’s only option is to defeat no-trust motion by proving majority — experts

ISLAMABAD: Legal and political experts said on Wednesday Prime Minister Imran Khan was only left with one option after the opposition moved a no-confidence motion against him in the National Assembly which was to prove his majority in the house to save the government.
The opposition needs at least 172 votes in the 342-member lower house of parliament to topple Khan’s administration.
After the submission of the no-confidence motion on Tuesday, opposition leaders claimed they could bring more than the required number of votes to oust the prime minister.
“As per the rules, the government can neither delay the National Assembly session nor defer voting on the no-confidence motion,” Pakistan’s former attorney general Ashtar Ausaf Ali told Arab News. “The only legal and constitutional option left with the prime minister is to ensure majority of 172 votes in the house to save his government.”
According to the current party position in the National Assembly, the opposition enjoys the support of 162 lawmakers while the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) have 179 votes along with its coalition partners, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q).
The opposition parties have been trying to woo the government’s political allies to ditch the coalition. They also claim to have the support of nearly 20 lawmakers of the ruling party.
In case of such defections, Ali noted the prime minister would not be able to get his party members disqualified by going to the country’s election commission in his capacity as the PTI chief since the dissidents would also file a petition and refuse to recognize him as their leader.
However, former vice chairman of Pakistan Bar Council Abid Saqi said such a scenario could play out in another way.
“In case of defections from the ruling party to vote on no-confidence motion, the party head can write to the election commission for their disqualification, but this can be done only after the voting process,” he told Arab News. “The election commission can disqualify lawmakers for defection during their current term, but they will be eligible to contest the next general elections.”
He added the speaker would be bound to convene the National Assembly sitting within 14 days and ensure voting on the motion within seven days after the opposition requisitioned a no-trust session.
“The Speaker cannot shy away from his legal responsibility of summoning the session and hold the voting as per rules on the no-confidence motion,” he said. “If the government tries to delay convening the National Assembly session in violation of the rules, it will further lose its moral legitimacy.”
This is the third no-confidence motion against a sitting prime minister in the country’s parliamentary history, though the previous two against late Benazir Bhutto and Shaukat Aziz were defeated.
Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, president of Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT), said the government and opposition were struggling to gather support of maximum lawmakers in the house ahead of the vote.
“We cannot predict the outcome of the move until voting result on the no-trust motion is announced,” he told Arab News.
He maintained the government of the day always had an upper hand in parliamentary democracies since it found itself in a position to oblige and dole out development funds and lucrative positions to lawmakers.
However, he added the opposition was also playing its cards to gather support of maximum legislators to get the motion passed.
“It is a tricky game and can go either way,” he said.