ISLAMABAD: In a dramatic and unprecedented manner, the opposition on Sunday continued the National Assembly proceedings despite its dissolution by President Dr Arif Alvi and completed the voting process on the no-trust resolution against Prime Minister Imran Khan, declaring it successful with 197 votes.

The result of the vote was announced by PML-N leader and former speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, who presided over the sitting as a member of the panel of chairpersons that had been announced by Speaker Asad Qaiser at the start of the assembly session on March 25.

Though the opposition ran the session without the support of the secretariat staff and even without the sound system, it declared the proceedings “legal and valid”.

Besides the opposition, the members of former allies of the government and 22 dissidents of the PTI voted in support of the resolution that was formally presented by Leader of the Opposition and PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif as soon as the treasury members left the house after it was prorogued by Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri through a ruling disallowing the voting on the no-confidence resolution.

Surprisingly, Chaudhry Salik Hussain, the son of PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, also supported the opposition’s resolution, thus confirming the reported rift in Chaudhrys’ family. Besides him, PML-Q’s Tariq Bashir Cheema also fulfilled his commitment and voted against Imran Khan.

In the absence of secretariat staff, Murtaza Javed Abbasi, who was deputy speaker during the PML-N government, was seen noting down the names of the members going into the lobby after registering their names after Mr Sadiq declared the vote open.

Despite prorogation of the assembly session and leaving of the house by the treasury members, a number of reporters stayed in the Press Gallery when they noticed that most of the opposition members were still occupying their seats. Senior opposition leaders, including Shehbaz Sharif and PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari left the assembly hall, but returned after holding some consultations.

As soon as all the opposition members took their seats, Mr Abbasi stood up and said the deputy speaker did not have the right to prorogue the sitting without completing the constitutional process of voting on the no-confidence resolution. He then announced the names of Amjid Ali Khan, Munazza Hassan and Imran Khattak of the PTI and Sardar Ayaz Sadiq to take the seat as presiding officer. Since the three PTI members were absent, Mr Sadiq took the speaker’s chair and conducted the proceedings.

First, Mr Sadiq overturned the ruling of the deputy speaker after seeking approval of the members through a voice vote and then gave the floor to Shehbaz Sharif to formally move the resolution for voting.

Mr Sharif in his brief speech lashed out at the PTI government’s economic and foreign policies and thanked the former allies of the government and other parties for supporting the opposition’s move.

After the completion of the voting process, Mr Sadiq adjourned the proceedings till April 6. However, the opposition members remained inside the assembly hall in anticipation of a possible Supreme Court’s decision on the development.

Published in Dawn, April 4th, 2022