K-P Assembly speaker to face no-confidence vote

Two resolutions submitted in assembly secretariat with session expected to be held on May 14

PESHAWAR: Even as pressure mounts on the governor to ask the provincial chief minister to seek a vote of confidence from the legislature, one opposition party has sought to force the issue by submitting a no-confidence resolution against the speaker.

The move all but blows up the government’s hopes of securing support from the opposition to pass the budget

The opposition Pakistan People's Party (PPP) on Friday submitted a resolution of no-confidence against Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser in the assembly secretariat.

PPP lawmakers Fakhr Azam Wazir and Ziaullah Afridi (who was formerly with the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf) submitted two resolutions of no confidence with the assembly secretary.

Both the resolutions were submitted under the sub-clause (C) of clause Article 53 read with Article 127 of the Constitution of Pakistan and sub-rule 1 of rule 11 of the rules and procedures of K-P Assembly.

After submitting his resolution, Wazir explained that Qaiser no longer enjoys the majority in the assembly, which is why they had submitted the resolution. He stressed that the speaker should take a vote of confidence from the house.

The K-P government has summoned a session of the provincial assembly on May 14, after postponing a session scheduled for May 3. When the house convenes, the resolution will become the top agenda item.



As per the assembly rules, the mover of the no-confidence motion shall show the support of a third of members in the house and once the mover successfully shows the one third support for the motion then voting on secret ballots system would be held in favor and against the motion.

If the mover gets simple majority in the voting then the no-confidence will be successful.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly has a total 124 members. However, three of these seats are currently vacant. Hence a majority will be 62 votes.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has been walking on egg shells in the assembly ever since the party chief held a news conference at his palatial mansion in Bani Gala where he accused 18 party lawmakers of selling their votes during the Senate elections and announced that the party would expel these lawmakers. With 59 members in the house, such a hemorrhage of lawmakers would leave the party woefully short of the minimum votes needed to keep the majority in the house.



To make matters worse, PTI’s coalition partner in the provincial assembly, the Jamaat—e—Islami (JI) decided to quit the government and join hands with the opposition Jamiat Ulema-e- Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) in reviving the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA). The loss of seven JI lawmakers in the house for the PTI has further weakened the party’s position in the assembly.

The JI though, have assured the PTI of full support in the event of a no-confidence motion.



Over the past week, the Awami National Party (ANP), JUI-F and disgruntled lawmakers from the PTI have written to the K-P Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, requesting him to ask K-P Chief Minister Pervez Khattak to seek a vote of confidence from the assembly.

In the past, no-confidence motions have been attempted against the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) assembly speaker Bakht Jahan Khan of JI and deputy speaker Ikramullah Shahid. However, both resigned their posts before the moves could be tabled in the assembly.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 5^th, 2018.