No-confidence motion against any prime minister was successful

So far in the history of Pakistan, no-confidence motion has been presented against three prime ministers, but none of them has been successful.

When the country’s constitution was promulgated in 1973, a no-confidence motion against the prime minister and the speaker was included, but this constitutional provision was used for the first time under a military president.

The Speaker of the National Assembly, which came into existence in 1985 under General Zia, became the first target of the no-confidence motion. A motion of no confidence was brought against the then speaker National Assembly Fakhr Imam which succeeded and removed him from office and thus Hamid Nasir became the sixth new speaker.

Five no-confidence motions have been presented in the National Assembly so far, out of which three were against the Prime Ministers and two against the Speakers. Interestingly, there has been a gap of 16, 16 years in presenting a no-confidence motion against the Prime Ministers.

Former military president Zia-ul-Haq did not resort to a no-confidence motion to remove Prime Minister Muhammad Khan Junejo from office, but exercised his presidential prerogative to dissolve the National Assembly under the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution and dissolved the National Assembly itself.

Almost a year after the new elections in 1988, the then united opposition moved a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, but it was also unsuccessful.

Like the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan, 86 members of the opposition assembly also signed it at that time. The then opposition got 107 votes against 124 and the movement was not successful.

Exactly 10 months after the failure of Tehreek-e-Nai against Benazir Bhutto, the then President Ishaq Khan, like his predecessor General Zia-ul-Haq, moved the National Assembly.

After the failure of no-confidence motion against former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, no no-confidence motion against any Prime Minister was again for about 16 years. was dismissed.

The first government of Benazir Bhutto was terminated by Ishaq Khan and the second government by Farooq Leghari through presidential authority.

Nawaz Sharif’s first government was dismissed by Ishaq Khan and the army came to power during the second government.

After almost 16 years, once again during the tenure of another military president, a motion of no confidence was presented against the then Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, but this resolution presented in August 2006 was not successful and Shaukat Aziz lost his power. They were able to save.

Earlier, in June 2003, the opposition presented a no-confidence motion against National Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain declaring General Pervez Musharraf’s LFO as part of the constitution. However, the no-confidence motion failed.

The position of the opposition was that in 2002, when the members of the assembly were taking oath, the outgoing Speaker of the National Assembly, Elhi Bakhsh Soomro, had ruled that General Pervez Musharraf’s LFO was not part of the constitution. Again, 16 years. After a period of time, the opposition has brought a motion of no confidence and this time Imran Khan is the target of the constitutional movement.

In this way, no-confidence motions have been presented against three prime ministers of the country at intervals of 16 and 16 years.

The existing assembly is the fourth since the restoration of the constitution in 2002. Compared to the past, three assemblies have completed their constitutional term so far, but the prime ministers could not complete their term of office. From 1985 to 1999 neither the Assembly could complete its term nor any Prime Minister could complete the constitutional term.

The National Assembly established under former military president Pervez Musharraf saw three Prime Ministers. They include Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, Chaudhary Shujaat Hussain and Shaukat Aziz.

The 2008 and 2013 assemblies also completed their terms but the prime minister changed. Raja Pervaiz Ashraf became the Prime Minister after Yusuf Raza Geelani was disqualified, while in 2013, when Nawaz Sharif’s membership in the National Assembly ended, PML-N chose Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as the Prime Minister.

The no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan has been brought at a time when one and a half years of his government’s tenure is left. Former Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz also faced a no-confidence motion against him when a year and a half was left for the new elections.

Political analysts are of the opinion that it is easier to move a no-confidence motion in a mixed and simple majority assembly. The opposition tries to attract government members for the sake of numerical strength.

During the no-confidence motion against Benazir Bhutto’s government in 1989, the allegation of keeping opposition members at Changa Manga came to the fore and echoes in political circles even today.

According to commentators, in pursuit of numerical numbers, both the government and the opposition try to break each other’s MLAs and this leads to horse-trading, which is not considered a good omen.

Imran Khan is the first Prime Minister in the country’s history who has received a vote of confidence from the National Assembly not once but twice.

The first vote of confidence was taken by Imran Khan immediately after becoming the Prime Minister, which is a constitutional requirement. The second time was in March 2021 when the government candidate Hafeez Sheikh was defeated by former Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani in the Senate elections.

On the other hand, legal experts say that the no-confidence motion is a constitutional method, but after the 18th amendment, the members of the assembly cannot take part in the referendum against the decision of their party on the no-confidence motion, and if they do so, they will lose their membership in the assembly. will fall

In 1997, Nawaz Sharif introduced the 14th Amendment to the Constitution to prevent flow crossings, and it was unconditionally supported by the opposition leader at the time, Benazir Bhutto.

According to the legal experts, including the members of the opposition assembly for the no-confidence motion is like adopting an unconstitutional method for the constitutional method of bringing the no-confidence motion.

Apart from the National Assembly, a motion of no confidence was also raised against the Chairman of the Senate, Sadiq Sajrani, and the opposition was defeated in the secret ballot despite the numerical superiority.

In the past, no-confidence motions were heard in the provincial assemblies.

Apart from this, before the 1973 constitution, a no-confidence motion against the then Prime Minister Ibrahim Ismail Chandragar was also moved in December 1957, but that too was not successful as he had already resigned.