With 180 votes in his favour, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif won the National Assembly’s vote of confidence on Thursday. The trust vote needed 172 votes to pass in the 342 member legislature. However, the total number was decreased to 341 due to the passing of the previous minister for religious affairs, Mufti Abdul Shakoor. The motion asking for a vote on trust in the NA was introduced by Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto.
“The National Assembly of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan reposes its full confidence in the leadership of Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, as the Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan,” the resolution, which was approved by 180 members, stated.
PM Shehbaz, after securing the trust vote in the assembly, thanked Allah Almighty and 180 members for reposing trust in him.
Addressing the assembly floor, he said Pakistan was prospering before 2018 elections and blamed the PTI government for economic crisis. “The entire world is aware how the RTS (Result Transmission System) was compromised in 2018 and election results were manipulated,” he added. However when we challenged the results, former CJP Saqib Nisar stopped recounting of votes, he said.
The PM went on to say that former PM Imran Khan dissolved two assemblies in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) to create hurdles when talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) were going on. “The incumbent government is importing Russian oil that will soon arrive in Pakistan.
Had he came to the government as a result of foreign conspiracy, his government would not have imported oil from Russia, he said. The PM continued by saying that “we do not accept the decision of three-member [SC} bench, we accept the verdict of four judges”.
Earlier, according to sources, the PM had consulted the parties in the ruling alliance at lunch after which he decided to take the vote. They said that when the PM informed them about his intention, the allies told him that they had “full confidence in you,” and he could take a vote of confidence from the house anytime.
It may be noted that after rejection of money bill put before the National Assembly for release of Rs21 billion to conduct elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, political circles opined that it was a sign of mistrust in his leadership and he should obtain a vote of confidence.
