MQM, PPP table joint resolution

KARACHI:

Muttahida Qaunmi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) have reaffirmed their recent union by tabling a joint resolution against the ruling by National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri over the no-confidence motion which aimed to remove Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The NA deputy speaker had declared the move as unconstitutional and, therefore, did now allow it to move ahead in the assembly.

The PTI created a commotion in the House on Wednesday as its members chanted slogans against their rivals. Bitter words were also exchanged between the government and opposition members.

Despite the noise and sloganeering of PTI, the joint resolution of PPP and MQM-P was passed by a majority vote and the Sindh Assembly session was adjourned indefinitely.

The House resounded with the slogans of Go Niazi Go and Go Zardari Go. The session of Sindh Assembly started with a delay of one hour and 55 minutes under the chair of Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani.

Haleem Adil Sheikh said that Pakistan's survival was put in danger in exchange for dollars. "Those who destroyed the province and those who bid for dollars in Sindh House, may Allah Almighty destroy them."

Sindh Assembly Speaker Aga Siraj Durrani said that prayers are offered in the House, not curses. Meanwhile, Haleem Adil Sheikh's mic was turned off. PPP Sindh Assembly member Shamim Mumtaz said that it was a happy day for the country.

Provincial Minister for Energy Imtiaz Sheikh, while congratulating the people of Sindh in the House, said it was a blessing to be independent of a bad government.

"Khan used to say that he is the captain and that he will compete, but he does not have enough courage. PTI left the National Assembly and fled."

Meanwhile, PTI members got up from their seats and started chanting slogans in the house. Waving banners and placards, they gathered in front of the speaker dais and surrounded it.

They protested and chanted slogans, accusing the opposition of being enemies of the country and traitors of conscience.

Read More: PPP, MQM-P make headway in talks

Despite loud slogans and noise in the House, PPP Sindh Assembly member Nida Khorro and MQM Pakistan's Sanjay Parwani presented a joint resolution in the House against the the NA Deputy Speaker's ruling over the motion of no confidence against Imran Khan.

They demanded that it be declared unconstitutional. Meanwhile, PTI members kept chanting slogans against the PPP leadership in the House. In response, PPP members also stood up from their seats and chanted slogans.

During the protests and commotion, a joint resolution against the ruling of the deputy speaker of the National Assembly was passed by a majority vote and Speaker

Sindh Assembly Aga Siraj Durrani adjourned the session of the Sindh Assembly indefinitely.

Earlier in the day, Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial observed that the court would not indulge in policy matters and only focus on the legality of National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri's ruling on a no-trust motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan. The country's top judge was hearing the arguments of PML-N's attorney Makhdoom Ali Khan against the rejection of a no-confidence motion by the deputy speaker.

Suri had dismissed the motion on the grounds that it was linked to a "foreign conspiracy" to oust the PTI government. He had ruled that motion was contradictory to Article 5 of the Constitution.

The two clauses under Article 5 state that loyalty to the State was the basic duty of every citizen and obedience to the Constitution and law is the inviolable obligation of every citizen wherever he may be and of every other person for the time being within Pakistan.

Later, CJP Bandial took suo motu notice of the development and formed a five-judge larger bench, headed by himself and also comprising Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan, Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, to hear the case.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 7^th, 2022.