Caretaker PM: NA Speaker asks Imran and Shehbaz to serve on a committee

Asad Qaiser, the Speaker of the National Assembly (NA), has written letters to the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition of the outgoing National Assembly, requesting names for an eight-member committee to be formed under Article 224-A (1) of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan’s Constitution to appoint the Caretaker Prime Minister.

NA Speaker Asad Qaiser requested four candidates for a committee made up of eight members of the departing National Assembly, Senate, or both, in separate letters to Prime Minister Imran Khan and Leader of the Opposition Shehbaz Sharif. Both the Treasury and the Opposition benches would be represented on the Committee. The Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition would submit two candidates to the Committee for consideration as Caretaker Prime Minister, and the Committee would discuss and choose one of them.

On April 5, the Spokesman National Assembly Secretariat sharply rejected a news item circulating in the media about Speaker of the National Assembly Asad Qaiser and the Deputy Speaker’s ruling on the no-confidence motion against the Prime Minister.

All such reports have been labelled “fabricated” and “baseless” by the Spokesman. He informed him that Asad Qaiser, the Speaker of the National Assembly, had opted not to preside over the session on April 3rd due to a no-confidence vote filed against him.

He also stated that the Speaker of the National Assembly agreed with the Deputy Speaker’s verdict on the no-confidence resolution and had signed it. According to the spokesman, the subject is currently before the Hon. Supreme Court, and the Speaker will present his case to the court through his attorney. He stated that such news should not be attributed to Speaker.

On April 3, an hour before the start of the national assembly session slated to vote on Prime Minister Imran Khan’s no-confidence resolution, the opposition parties presented a vote of no-confidence against Speaker Asad Qaiser in an unexpected move.

Qaiser would not be constitutionally compelled to chair the session on a no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Imran Khan now that the resolution against him has been filed to the National Assembly secretariat. The no-confidence resolution against the Speaker will be voted on in the next assembly session.