ISLAMABAD, July 6: The National Assembly will discuss the no-confidence motion of the combined opposition against the Deputy Speaker, Sardar Mohammad Yaqoob, here on Monday morning.

The no-trust motion against the deputy speaker was filed soon after the similar motion against National Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain fizzled out on June 28.

Though the opposition was confident to improve its numerical strength this time, its All Parties’ Conference at Lahore on Sunday might affect returning of all its MNAs from Lahore, an opposition source told Dawn.

Meanwhile, reports that the opposition might consider to bring a no-trust motion against Senate Chairman Mohammadmian Soomro immediately after the proceedings on its motion against the deputy speaker was neither contradicted nor confirmed by independent sources.

Speculations that the opposition might decide to bring a no-trust motion against Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, were, however, contradicted by opposition sources. Similarly, a possibility of moving an impeachment against President Gen Pervez Musharraf was rejected by the sources.

A MMA source said moving an impeachment against Gen Musharraf would mean the opposition had accepted him as constitutionally elected president, “which is not the case”.

It would be very hard for Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain to allow all the 81 movers of the motion to speak one by one and take 15 minutes or more as the rules of business allowed them.

Earlier, the NA secretariat had reduced the number of movers to 81 from the original 110, who the opposition had claimed to have signed the no-trust motion. The reduction came as a result of scrutiny of the list which did not carry all but 81 signatures against their names.

In the meantime, the ruling coalition has decided to continue the strategy it had adopted at the time of the no-trust motion against the Speaker and to abstain from the secret ballot.