NA members unexpectedly give PM Shehbaz a vote of confidence.
Premier receives 180 votes; Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari moves the vote’s summary.
ISLAMABAD:
A vote of confidence in the National Assembly was unexpectedly taken and passed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday. The Prime Minister was able to win 180 votes.
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari moved the concise motion for the vote of confidence.
Following in the footsteps of former premiers Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif, and Yousaf Raza Gilani, the prime minister addressed the NA after establishing his majority and declared that he was “willing to be ousted a thousand times,” but would never “compromise on the trust the parliament has expressed in him.”
The prime minister thanked the legislators who had reaffirmed their support for him and promised to protect the integrity of parliament.
According to him, developments since 2018 are directly responsible for the “severe difficulty” in which Pakistan currently finds itself.
While criticising the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, the prime minister said that the previous government had risen to power “through electoral rigging of the worst kind.”
He accused former chief justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar of being involved in the “massive conspiracy” that brought the PTI to power.
Shehbaz also brought up a recent audio leak reportedly involving Nisar, which he claimed was evidence of a plot to get rid of him.
He said that he was sorry that “the parliament’s decisions are being challenged today,” but that it was his “duty as PM to bow to their decisions.”
He argued that the judicial branch had no business rewriting legislation that had been passed by the legislature.
Shehbaz also poked fun at the Supreme Court for suggesting that his loss of the majority was evidenced by the government’s refusal to distribute funds in accordance with parliament’s intentions.
He stated, “Today the House has given its verdict, and the three-member bench better hear it loud and clear that we do not accept their verdict, and we only accept the 4-3 verdict.”
The Prime Minister added that he was willing to talking to the leaders of other political parties despite the fact that some in his own party “hold a very strong view against” the PTI.
However, he emphasised that holding polls in Punjab separately from the rest of the country would “imply that Punjab is exploiting the country” and so would not be on the table during the negotiations.
According to PM Shehbaz, “no power in the world” can take authority away from parliament.
