New PM of Pakistan to be elected tomorrow

ISLAMABAD: After Imran Khan was dismissed as the prime minister of Pakistan as a result of a successful no-trust motion by the joint Opposition, the National Assembly will elect a new leader of the House tomorrow (Monday).

The NA is all set to hold the election of the new prime minister at 2pm. This session was earlier supposed to start at 11 am on Monday.

NA Secretariat said in a statement issued in this regard said that the aspirant candidates can file their nomination papers for the top slot till 2pm today (Sunday), which will be scrutinised till 3pm today.

Imran Khan loses vote of no-confidence

In a historic first for Pakistan, Imran Khan was ousted as the prime minister of Pakistan from office through a no-confidence motion after the NA debated on the matter for more than 12 hours and the political situation in the country took a critical turn Saturday night.

The session was chaired by Ayaz Sadiq — a member of the panel of chairs — after speaker Asad Qasier resigned from his post.

"174 members have recorded their votes in favour of the resolution, consequently the resolution for the vote on no-confidence against Mr Imran Khan, the prime minister of Pakistan, has been passed by a majority," Ayaz Sadiq announced after the process of voting was completed.

Once the voting was concluded and the result was announced, Opposition leaders delivered their victory speeches. Earlier, the session had been adjourned till 11am on Monday, April 11.

Speaking on the occasion, PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif said the country was witnessing a new day and thanked all the joint Opposition leaders for their efforts in uniting the parties against the government.

"We cannot thank Allah enough for allowing us to see this new day," said Shahbaz. "We thank everyone for their sacrifices, and now, once again, a Pakistan based on Constitution and law is about to come into existence," the PML-N president said, hoping that the alliance would move the country towards progress.

Shahbaz said this might be the first time in Pakistan that the country's daughters and sisters were sent to prison, but maintained that he wanted to forget the past and move forward.

"When the time comes, we will speak in detail, but we want to heal the wounds of the nation; we will not send innocent people to jails, and we will not take revenge," Shabaz said, noting that the law will take its course without interference.

"Neither I, nor Bilawal, nor will Maulana Fazlur Rehman interfere. Law will be upheld and we will respect the judiciary," Shahbaz said, thanking Sadiq for chairing the historic session.

"Jab apna qafla azm o yakeen se niklay ga, jahan se chahen ge rasta wohi se niklay ga, watan ki mitti airian ragrne day, mujhe yaqeen hai chashman yaheen se niklayga," Shahbaz concluded.