Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Senator Ali Zafar has said that following the Supreme Court's verdict discounting the votes of dissident party members, the president can order Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to obtain a vote of confidence to prove that he has the right to hold office.
The lawmaker made this assertion during a talk show appearance on a local channel, where he said in response to a question by the host, that it was indeed possible for the president to ask Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to prove his majority by obtaining a vote of confidence.
He said there was only a difference of two votes in favor of PM Shehbaz Sharif, and that both those votes were from Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) lawmakers. The lawmakers in question were Salik Hussain and Tariq Bashir Cheema, who are both federal ministers in the incumbent coalition government.
The two parliamentarians voted for PM Shehbaz Sharif, going against the directives issued by PML-Q, who had decided to side with former prime minister Imran Khan instead. This qualifies both of them as dissident party members.
After the Supreme Court's verdict on Tuesday, where it announced that the votes of dissident lawmakers would not be considered, Hussain and Cheema would have to follow their party's orders, said Ali Zafar. The verdict can apply to events of the past, present and future, he said.
Zafar stated that this did not mean that a vote of no confidence could not be carried out against a sitting prime minister, citing the example of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto who had proposed that if majority of the party members leave the prime minister then it does not count as defection.
This proposal was accepted and Article 68 was added to the Constitution according to the PTI leader, who said "The Supreme Court has also interpreted it as such, that if the majority of a party leaves, then the vote will be counted.”
The lawmaker made this assertion during a talk show appearance on a local channel, where he said in response to a question by the host, that it was indeed possible for the president to ask Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to prove his majority by obtaining a vote of confidence.
He said there was only a difference of two votes in favor of PM Shehbaz Sharif, and that both those votes were from Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) lawmakers. The lawmakers in question were Salik Hussain and Tariq Bashir Cheema, who are both federal ministers in the incumbent coalition government.
The two parliamentarians voted for PM Shehbaz Sharif, going against the directives issued by PML-Q, who had decided to side with former prime minister Imran Khan instead. This qualifies both of them as dissident party members.
After the Supreme Court's verdict on Tuesday, where it announced that the votes of dissident lawmakers would not be considered, Hussain and Cheema would have to follow their party's orders, said Ali Zafar. The verdict can apply to events of the past, present and future, he said.
Zafar stated that this did not mean that a vote of no confidence could not be carried out against a sitting prime minister, citing the example of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto who had proposed that if majority of the party members leave the prime minister then it does not count as defection.
This proposal was accepted and Article 68 was added to the Constitution according to the PTI leader, who said "The Supreme Court has also interpreted it as such, that if the majority of a party leaves, then the vote will be counted.”