ISLAMABAD, Aug 25: Fire-breathing opposition parties on Friday turned up the heat on a somewhat panic-stricken ruling coalition which scrambled to establish late-night contacts with loosely-bound parliamentarians known to be in a sulk for one reason or another.

The opposition campaign for the ouster of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz got off to a flying start as 101 legislators supported the no-trust resolution.

Since under Article 95(1) of the Constitution a no-confidence resolution can be moved “by no less than 20 per cent of the total membership of the National Assembly”, the opposition needed only 69 members in the 342-strong house.

A 30-point charge-sheet – hurling a wide variety of accusations at the prime minister, ranging from wilful corruption to serious dereliction of duty – was attached to the no-trust resolution.

While the ruling coalition wanted to get over with the recital of the motion’s brief text provided by the National Assembly secretariat, opposition lawmakers insisted that they would read out the entire charge-sheet.

Wild gesticulations of Aitzaz Ahsan of the PPP Parliamentarians, whose is believed to have painstakingly put together the charge-sheet, had little effect on the National Assembly speaker who advised the opposition not to waste time on inconclusive arguments and get on with the job of filing the no-confidence motion as fast as they could.

Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain announced that a debate on the no-confidence motion – which is likely to see treasury and opposition benches indulge in mutual recrimination – would be held on Aug 29. He added that the process of voting would be initiated the same day.

Opposition leaders Liaquat Baloch, Raja Parvaiz and Hafiz Hussain Ahmad subsequently made it clear at a press conference that they would take as much time as they needed on their speeches on the no-confidence motion. They responded to statements made by the prime minister earlier that the number of speeches would be fixed on Aug 29.

Meanwhile, large numbers of Pakistan Muslim League legislators seized the opportunity of ingratiating themselves with the embattled prime minister and, calling on him on Friday, assured him that they would stand by him through thick and thin.

PML president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, accompanied by many cabinet ministers, also attended a meeting with the prime minister. The ministers told the premier that the no-confidence motion was doomed to failure.