Midnight drama in Pakistan: Speaker quits, Imran Khan loses no-trust vote

Islamabad, Apr 10: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan lost a crucial trust vote in the National Assembly past midnight on Saturday, becoming the first premier in the country's history to be removed through a no-confidence motion.

Pakistan National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser and Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri resigned on Saturday night minutes after the crucial session of the house resumed for after a break of over three hours.

The crucial session of the house began at 10:30 am (11:00 IST) with Speaker Qaiser, a senior member of Prime Minister Imran Khan's party, in chair. Since then, the session was adjourned thrice for one reason or another.

After announcing resignation, he asked Ayaz Sadiq of PML-N to chair the proceedings, to oust Imran Khan.

Earlier in the day, Imran Khan held an emergency meeting of his Cabinet on Saturday night as he vowed not to resign and "fight till the last ball", even though his government is expected to lose a no-confidence motion in the National Assembly.

The cricketer-turned-politician also announced that he will not resign and "fight till the last ball". He said that he was not interfering in the process of implementation of the orders of the Supreme Court to hold a no-confidence vote.

Meanwhile, top courts have become active and the Islamabad High Court and Supreme Court were expected to become operational by midnight to take action if the orders to complete voting on a no-confidence motion against Khan were not implemented till the end of the day.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, who had instructed the relevant officials of the top court to open the doors at 12am, has reached the apex court, sources said, as the National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser is yet to allow voting on the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Khan.

The joint Opposition has lodged an official complaint with the Speaker, urging him not to further delay the voting on a no-confidence motion against the prime minister.

They said all authorities concerned including him were guilty of "gross contempt and liable to punishment in accordance with law".

The joint Opposition needed 172 members in the 342-member house to oust Prime Minister Khan. They have garnered the support of more than the needed strength with the help of some allies of the ruling coalition and rebels from Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.