• 180 lawmakers repose confidence in prime minister; motion to provide funds for polls turned down again
• Shehbaz says he is ready to face the music, but courts have no right to rewrite Constitution

ISLAMABAD: In an unannounced move, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday secured a trust vote in the National Assembly as 180 lawmakers belonging to the ruling coalition expressed their “full confidence” in his leadership.

After voting in favour of the resolution moved by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, “reposing full confidence” in PM Shehbaz’s leadership, lawmakers rejected for the third time a motion moved by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, seeking the release of Rs21 billion for the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to conduct polls in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces in line with Supreme Court orders.

The resolution was not included in the orders of the day and was brought before the house through a supplementary agenda. Tabling the resolution, Mr Bhutto-Zardari said the government had decided to show the whole world that parliament stood with the Constitution.

Amid desk-thumping and loud sloganeering, Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf made the announcement that 180 members had risen from their seats in favour of the resolution.

“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,” the speaker declared as soon as the prime minister returned to his seat after individually shaking hands with the parliamentary leaders of each and every coalition party.

On his way back, PM Shehbaz also greeted PTI dissident and Opposition Leader Raja Riaz Ahmed, who seemed happier than anyone else in the house over the development. However, he was among the members who did not vote for the PM.

“Had the late Mufti Abdul Shakoor [federal religious affairs minister, who died in a road accident] been present today, the premier would have secured 181 votes,” said the speaker, who had earlier allowed counting of the votes of veteran PPP members Nawab Yousuf Talpur and Aftab Shaaban Mirani while asking them to remain seated due to their ill health. Mr Talpur had come to the assembly on a wheelchair.

PTI’s Saleh Muhammad was the only one from the opposition who spoke on the occasion and accused the government of running away from the elections.

The development came two days after Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb vehemently refuted reports in media that PM Shehbaz had decided to seek a vote of confidence. Legal and political experts believe that after this successful trust vote, the government team negotiating with the PTI would be able to do so from a position of strength.

Interestingly, when Shehbaz Sharif was elected prime minister in April last year, he secured 174 votes – two more than the required number of 172. This time around, the increased numbers were down to members of coalition parties who had joined the legislature after winning the recently held by-elections.

Shehbaz’s speech

In his speech after securing the trust of the house, PM Shehbaz said he always stood by parliament, whose decisions were being “challenged” these days.

Lashing out at the judiciary, the prime minister said the judiciary had no right to re-write the Constitution.

“It is not possible that parliament frames a law and the judiciary issues a stay order on it, even before it is enforced,” he said, referring to the top court decision to stop implementation of a law passed by the parliament seeking to clip the CJP’s powers in suo motu cases.

“We do not accept the decision of the three-judge bench. We only accept the 4-3 verdict,” he said, referring to the division within the judiciary over the issue of suo motu petitions on the issue of polls. He expressed surprise that the court was only interested in the elections in Punjab whereas it had no concern for the elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

“Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was unjustly martyred, Yusuf Raza Gilani was disqualified. Nawaz Sharif was disqualified. Today, parliament has given me the vote of confidence. By God, if they oust me in response to this vote of confidence, I am ready to go back thousands of times,” the prime minister resolved.

“This parliament has elected me as the prime minister. If this parliament reaches a decision after debate and obliges the government and cabinet, then it is mandatory for me to respect its decision. It is mandatory for me to stand by them,” he said, in an apparent reference to the SC order to the federal government to release Rs21bn election funds.

PM Shehbaz said that despite reservations of some coalition partners, the government had agreed to hold talks with the PTI, but the agenda should be holding the elections on one day in the country.

He said if elections would be held in Punjab six months before polls in other federating units, it would send a wrong message and the smaller provinces would accuse Punjab of “exploiting” the political situation.

“If the PTI is ready to accept elections on a single day, then we have nominated our team,” he said.

In his speech, the PM also lashed out at the previous government and its “facilitators”, specifically targeting former chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar. He recalled that former prime minister Imran Khan had promised that charges of rigging in the 2018 elections would be probed, but it never came to pass. He alleged that it was former CJP Nisar who stopped recounting in the constituencies, demanding that an investigation be launched as to how the mandate of the people was stolen by shutting down the Result Transmission System (RTS).

He also referred to a recent audio clip — purportedly of a conversation between ex-CJP Nisar and PTI legal adviser Khawaja Tariq Rahim regarding a high-profile case currently being heard by the Supreme Court — and reiterated the allegation that the former judge had been involved in “rigging” the 2018 elections. He also hit out at the former CJP for “taking suo motu notices day and night”.

He said the three-member bench in its order had stated that if they were not implementing the judges’ directives, it meant that the prime minister had lost the majority in the house. “But the house has given its verdict today,” he declared, stating that parliament had rejected the decision of the three-member SC bench.

Blaming Imran Khan for undermining Pakistan’s foreign relations, he said thanks to Allah Almighty, a Russian cargo ship carrying cheaper oil was about to depart from Russia, consequent to the incumbent government’s efforts, particularly the foreign and petroleum ministers.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif clarified that though PM Sharif had stated that he was ready to face conviction on contempt charges, but they did not accept the present three-member SC bench hearing the polls case.

Asad Mehmood of the JUI-F said parliament would complete its constitutional term, adding that no one had the authority to dictate terms and undermine the supremacy of parliament. He asked the government to stick to its stance of holding polls across the country simultaneously and not succumb to any pressure in this regard.

Federal Minister Javed Latif made it clear that the PML-N would accept the general elections only if its leadership would be given a level playing field in the political process. He said PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif had faced disqualification and judicial trials despite being innocent, but it was time to ensure justice for him.

The NA will meet again today (Friday) at 11am.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2023