Deadlock persists over no-trust move against Suri

Opposition unwilling to roll back plan until ordinances withdrawn

ISLAMABAD: The opposition lawmakers have refused to roll back their plan to move a no-confidence motion against National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri until the government withdrew the ordinances it had recently passed in the lower house of parliament.

However, a government team and the opposition lawmakers will meet again on Friday to break the deadlock.

A delegation of the joint opposition met the government team at the National Assembly speaker‘s chamber on Thursday.

According to sources, the delegation told the other side that a no-confidence motion against Suri could only be averted if the government passed law as per parliamentary norms instead of resorting to ordinances.

National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser told the delegation that legal aspects of the ordinances would have to be reviewed and consultations would be required before informing the opposition about what could be done.

The government team contended that most of the ordinances had already been passed by parliamentary committees.

Both sides decided to meet again on Friday. The opposition delegation included PML-N leader and former National Assembly speaker Ayaz Sadiq, Rana Tanveer, PPP’s Raja Pervez Ashraf, Shazia Marri, Shahida Akhtar Ali and Mohsin Dawar. The government was represented by Defence Minister Pervez Khattak, Asad Umar, Azam Swati and Ali Muhammad Khan.

On November 7, the lower house of the parliament passed a record number of government bills in just over an hour amid an angry protest by opposition lawmakers, who were not allowed to speak during the entire session, chaired by Deputy Speaker Suri.

The PTI-led government introduced in the National Assembly 15 bills, eleven of which were approved with majority vote. These bills also incorporated nine ordinances, including seven recently promulgated ones. The NA also gave 120-day extension to three ordinances.

The house passed nine bills after their presentation as ordinances. The Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business were dispensed through passage of motions for immediate consideration of the bills following which these were passed after voice voting, by skipping their mandatory three readings.