Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif secures vote of confidence in national assembly – Times of India

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday secured a vote of confidence from the National Assembly, with 180 lawmakers expressing “full confidence” in his leadership, in a surprise development amidst an increasing confrontation between the government and the top judiciary.
Foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, the chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party, tabled a resolution in the lower house stating that the National Assembly of Pakistan “reposes its full confidence in the leadership of” Prime Minister Sharif.
The National Assembly Speaker, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, ordered voting which was conducted with lawmakers rising from their seats in favour of adopting the resolution. The resolution was supported by 180 lawmakers in the 342-member National Assembly. The prime minister needed 172 votes to become the leader of the house.
When Sharif was elected as the prime minister in April last year, he had secured the support of 174 lawmakers.
“Consequently, Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has obtained the vote of confidence from the National Assembly and commands the confidence of the majority of the members of the National Assembly as prime minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan,” Speaker Ashraf announced, amid thumping of desks by lawmakers.
Later, Prime Minister Sharif addressed the House and thanked the lawmakers for reposing confidence in him and assured them that he would “always maintain their trust in his leadership”.
He also assailed the 2018 elections which he said were rigged to assure the success of Imran Khan. He asked the speaker to probe those elections so that the facts are brought before the nation.
The symbolic vote of confidence is an indication that the prime minister enjoys the full confidence of the lawmakers when it is feared that a three-member bench of the Supreme Court may target the prime minister for allegedly not implementing the directives to provide Rs 21 billion for provincial elections.
The development comes after the Supreme Court observed that it would not force political parties to hold parleys to end the impasse on the issue of elections.
In a related development, the government and Khan’s party indicated to hold talks for which Chairman Senate, Sadiq Sanjrani, invited them. Prime Minister Sharif in his address said that talks were expected to begin in the evening.
“The talks will be held on holding the election in the entire country on the same day,” he said.
The latest developments show that the prevailing political instability may continue to haunt the country and its economy and a ruling against the government will increase the chaos.
On Monday, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb rejected reports that Prime Minister Sharif would seek a vote of confidence from Parliament in the middle of a tussle with the top judiciary.
Marriyum took to Twitter to dispel the impression of the vulnerability of the premier and the need to seek a vote to show that he enjoyed the trust of the majority. She said that no consultation had taken place on the topic, adding that there was no need for it.
Her tweet followed after several media channels reported that Prime Minister Sharif had decided to go to the Parliament and seek a fresh mandate.
The speculation came after the National Assembly rejected a money bill tabled by the government for providing funds to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for holding polls in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The rejection echoed in the Supreme Court which observed on April 19 while hearing a plea that the premier always must hold the majority in the National Assembly.
The court already ordered an election in the Punjab province on May 14 but the government is dragging its foot to postpone the poll citing economic constraints and security reasons.
The same bench is hearing a government petition to hold elections on the same fate and during its hearing on Thursday, Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial said the bench cannot force political parties to hold negotiations.
“We are not pushing anyone but only finding out a way for the enforcement of the Constitution,” he said.
The bench after hearing the arguments from both sides completed the proceedings for the day. “A written order will be issued for this case,” the chief justice said, adding that “the court will issue appropriate orders”.
Khan has been pushing for snap elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the provinces where his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party ruled till recently.
The PTI dissolved the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies on January 14 and 18, respectively, in a bid to force the ruling coalition in Islamabad to hold early general elections in the country.
Parliament and the judiciary have also locked horns over the holding of elections in the two provinces, as the cash-strapped government has refused to authorise the funds to meet the expenditures amidst the economic crisis facing the country.
The PTI is determined to press for polls in the provincial legislatures, but the government maintains its stance on simultaneous elections across the country.
The National Assembly will complete its five-year term in August this year. According to the Constitution, elections shall be held within 90 days after the dissolution of the lower house. This means that the election must be held by mid-October. The last general election was held in July 2018.