PM Khan wins vote of confidence from NA amid opposition's boycott

Prime Minister Imran Khan won the vote of confidence from the National Assembly on Saturday after he secured 178 votes.

The PM had needed 172 votes to prove the confidence of the 341-member House. Announcing the results, NA Speaker Asad Qaiser said that the premier has obtained the vote of confidence and commands the majority of the Lower House.

Addressing the floor of the Parliament after winning the vote of confidence from the National Assembly, the PM began by thanking government lawmakers and his allies. "Our team will get stronger. Because God will test your faith again and again," the PM said.

Speaking about the Senate elections, the PM said it was embarrassing the way they were held, adding that the government knew for a month that money was being collected for buying and selling of lawmakers.

He said he just wants to say one thing to the Election Commission of Pakistan and that is it should 'please take a secret briefing from Pakistan's intelligence agencies and they will know how much money was flowing in the Senate elections.

He said the thieves [Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari] were blackmailing the government for an NRO. He said Sharif faked sickness to go abroad so that he could avoid the legal consequences of his corruption. "As soon as he got on the plane, he immediately changed and now he is sitting there and making speeches and scheming," PM said.

Criticizing Yusuf Raza Gilani, who beat Hafeez Shaikh in the Senate polls, the PM said Gilani is one of the most corrupt politicians in the country. He further said to look at Gilani's wealth and assets before he became the PM and do a comparison with his assets after he became the PM. "The picture will be clear," the PM said.

President Dr Arif Alvi had summoned the session, which had a single-point agenda to meet today. The session started at 12:15pm with a recitation from the Holy Quran and a naat, and later, the national anthem was played.

The resolution tabled by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said: “That this House reposes confidence in the Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Mr Imran Khan, as required under clause (7) of Article 91 of the Constitution Islamic Republic of Pakistan."

The NA speaker then directed the legislators to make their way to another chamber inside the House, where NA staff would record their votes. 155 PTI lawmakers voted in favour of the premier.

Moreover, seven lawmakers from the MQM-P, five each from the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid and the Balochistan Awami Party, three from Grand Democratic Alliance and one each from the Awami Muslim League and the Jamhoori Watan Party cast their votes supporting the PM.

Meanwhile, the opposition Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) has announced that it would not attend the session of the NA. PDM's Maulana Fazlur Rehman said that that the session will hold no value if the opposition members are not there.

On Friday, during a meeting of parliamentary parties at the PM House, 175 out of 179 government lawmakers gave assurance to the premier of their vote of confidence.