No-confidence motion: Opposition slams NA speaker over ‘biased’ remarks

ISLAMABAD: The combined opposition on Saturday took strong exception to National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser’s remarks about the possibility of failure of the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan. They said that the speaker could not make partisan statements, and he exhibited biased attitude against the opposition.

PPP Parliamentary leader in Senate Sherry Rehman said that was a constitutional instrument which he was trying to obstruct. His act by itself renders himself unfit to preside over any such session, and by saying that the vote of no-confidence was a foreign conspiracy, he was suggesting that the PTI government was only in place due to foreign support. “Is he a PTI office-bearer or the speaker of Pakistan’s National Assembly, where he was supposed to safeguard the integrity of the outcome by remaining neutral,” she added.

Sherry said by saying that the vote of no-confidence would be defeated, Asad Qaiser betrayed his office, and “in my view, he cannot preside over the House or the process”.

The senator said the PTI party seemed to be operating from a place of deranged paranoia, as they claim that the no-confidence motion was an international conspiracy against the prime minister and his party; the truth is that the government needs a reality check. “Over the years, the constant contradiction of his own statement has become the prime minister’s international identity, now the incumbent government is pushing the country towards a constitutional crisis and a national security catastrophe,” she added.

Sherry said no-trust motion seems to have pushed the entire government over the edge of reason. “The irony is that that actions of the government in the aftermath of the vote of no-confidence only proves that the PTI is completely incompetent and incapable of governing the country,” she said.

Former speaker National Assembly and PMLN senior leader Sardar Ayaz Sadiq also criticised Asad Qaiser’s statement. “By giving the statement that no-confidence motion will fail, and terming it an international conspiracy, the speaker has become controversial,” he said. Ayaz asked him to present some evidence before to the nation to prove it a world conspiracy. He questioned the NA speaker whether inflation, record foreign debt, economic catastrophe, unemployment, budget deficit were all foreign conspiracies.

“His statement is in clear contradiction to the constitutional and parliamentary requirements of the Speaker's Office,” he added.

He said if Asad Qaiser was so sure that the no-confidence motion would fail, he should immediately convene the NA session.

PPP senior leader Naveed Qamar said “Speaker's clear inclination towards the government is a matter of concern.” He said Asad Qaiser had made himself controversial by issuing such a statement.

He said the no-confidence motion in the assembly should be chaired by a non-controversial and unbiased person. He said the opposition did not trust Asad Qaiser anymore. "Important sessions of the National Assembly should be chaired in an impartial manner," he said.