CJ Bandial takes suo motu notice of political developments

Supreme Court Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial has taken suo motu notice of the major political developments in the country wherein the no-confidence motion was dismissed by National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri and federal legislature was dissolved by the president of Pakistan.

Earlier today, the president dissolved the National Assembly following a request by the Prime Minister.

During his crucial address to the nation after the National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri termed the no-confidence motion unconstitutional, Prime Minister Imran Khan said that he had requested the president to dissolve the assembly and to go for election in the country.

The premier also said that he would not let any foreign agenda work against the country and everyone who had taken money from outside to derail the country’s democracy should be ashamed.

At the start of the session, the opposition submitted a no-confidence motion against National Assembly’s Speaker Asad Qaiser, subsequent to which Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri started the session.

More than 100 lawmakers from the opposition parties signed the no-confidence motion against the NA Speaker, including Ayaz Sadiq, Khursheed Shah, Pakistan People’s Party’s Naveed Qamar, and Jamiat Ulema Islami-Fazal’s Shahida Akhtar Ali.

As the session began under Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said that loyalty to the state was the basic duty of every citizen under Article 5. He reiterated the premier’s earlier claims that a foreign conspiracy was behind the move to oust the government.

Suri dismissed the no-trust motion and adjourned the session for an indefinite period.

In the protest against the government’s decision, the opposition tried to conduct a parallel session of the NA and Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, who was the speaker in Pakistan Muslim League-N’s tenure took the seat of the speaker and continued the procedure. Later on, the lights were shut in the National Assembly and the parliamentarians were forced to go out.

Meanwhile, Pakistan People’s Party Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that they were going to the Supreme Court to ensure the constitutional right of voting against the prime minister.