ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Muhammad Ahsan Bhoon has warned of serious outcomes if the federal government makes a delay in summoning the National Assembly session for a no-confidence motion against the prime minister.
The SCBA president issued a statement yesterday, urging the government to urgently summon the NA session for a no-confidence motion against the prime minister within the seven days under Article 95 of the Constitutions, otherwise, it will empower non-political campaigns in the country.
Seemingly commenting on a political matter, Bhoon stated in the statement, “To ensure the rule of law and supremacy of the constitution and further any undue postponement in calling of the National Assembly meeting, including any deviation from the constitution, can provide non-political forces or non-state actor the opportunity to initiate non-political campaigns, the responsibility of which shall be upon the ruling political elite of the country”.
Vote of no-confidence; rules and procedure:
Moreover, the SCBA president stated that the opposition’s no-trust move was in line with the Constitution’s Article 95 and contain no ultra vires, adding that the association was closely monitoring the fragile political situation of the country.
It read, “It is further clearly provided in Article 95(2) of the Constitution that the Speaker of the National Assembly is constitutionally bound to summon the meeting of Assembly after the expiry of 3 days and not later than 7 days, after the receipt of any such requisition”.
No-confidence motion
The lawmakers of the opposition parties had submitted a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan to the National Assembly (NA) Secretariat on March 8 which needs the support of a minimum of 172 legislators for its success.
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The no-confidence motion against the prime minister had been submitted after being signed by 86 lawmakers from the opposition parties, whereas, the opposition benches also submitted a requisition for summoning a session of the National Assembly (NA).
The no-confidence motion and requisition for the NA session had been received by the additional secretary Muhammad Mushtaq at the NA Secretariat. Those who had submitted the no-confidence motion yesterday included Khawaja Saad Rafique, Ayaz Sadiq, Shazia Marri, Naveed Qamar, Rana Sanaullah, Aliya Kamran and Shahida Akhtar Ali.