No-trust move: Asad Qaiser vows to run assembly proceeding as per Article 95

After being accused of being “biased” and a “party to PM Imran Khan” ahead of the voting on the no-confidence motion against the premier, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser Wednesday clarified that he would act according to the law and would run the assembly’s proceeding as per Article 95 of the Constitution.

Taking to Twitter, Asad Qaiser said: “I, as the custodian of the National Assembly of Pakistan, will fulfil my constitutional obligations and will proceed in accordance with Article 95 of the Constitution and rule 37 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly, 2007.”

On March 14, Asad Qaiser had said he would follow the law during the voting on the no-confidence motion after the Opposition took strong exception to his remarks about the possibility of the failure of the no-confidence motion against PM Imran Khan.

In a conversation with journalists in Islamabad, the NA speaker had said the no-confidence motion was the Opposition’s constitutional right, but he did not specify a date for the session.

“I will follow the law; I am still in consultation with the NA secretariat about summoning the session and it will be called in line with the constitution,” the speaker had said.

On March 20, former prime minister and PML-N leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had said that the right to bring about a no-confidence motion is democratic and a constitutional right of the Opposition and accused the National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser of being biased regarding the process.

He had also added that anyone who violates the Constitution, regardless of whether it is the speaker of the National Assembly or the prime minister, will have to face Article 6 of the Constitution.

“The speaker was biased since day one, and is still showing his bias,” the senior leader had claimed.

Expressing his frustration over the delay in holding the session for the vote of no confidence, he had said that this voting is neither like the one in the Senate nor in the Gilgit Baltistan Assembly Election where “votes can be bought with money”, suggesting that the current government had bought votes in the past to stay in power.

“The biggest example of money laundering is foreign funding, and the NAB (National Accountability Bureau) and the FIA (Federal Investigation Agency) both are silent on this matter,” he had said, suggesting that PTI’s foreign funding case could potentially be an insight into the party’s “illegal activities.”

Throwing shade on the recent resignation of PM’s ex-adviser on accountability and interior leader Shahzad Akbar, Abbasi had pleaded Imran Khan to tell where he is right now. A few months ago, Akbar had stepped down from his office without giving a reason for his resignation.