No-trust vote against Imran Khan yet; Pakistan SC may open doors at midnight: Top updates
The vote is yet to happen despite the passage of nearly 12 hours since the session started on Saturday.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan held an emergency meeting of his Cabinet on Saturday night, even though his government is expected to lose a no-confidence motion in the National Assembly. The National Assembly session to decide the fate of Khan via voting on a no-confidence motion against him stands adjourned yet again. It was expected to resume at 9.30pm (local time) after Isha prayers but appears to have been delayed.
The vote is yet to happen despite the passage of nearly 12 hours since the session started on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the doors of the Islamabad High Court have been opened to execute the Supreme Court's order on no-confidence voting. Judicial staff was also immediately summoned to the Islamabad HC. The Supreme Court had on Thursday ordered the incumbent government to face the no-confidence motion on Saturday. The court had turned down the ruling of the Deputy Speaker to reject the no-confidence motion.
Here are the latest updates on Pakistan crisis:
Imran Khan summoned the cabinet meeting at 9pm (local time) at the Prime Ministers' House in Islamabad. Important decisions were expected in the meeting, Geo News reported quoting high-level sources. After the meeting, Khan invited journalists and told them that he is not resigning, according to reports.
Also Read | Pak political crisis LIVE updates
>Pakistan's army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa met Khan, two sources familiar with the matter told news agency Reuters.
>The Chief Justice of Pakistan has decided to open the Supreme Court's doors at 12am, as the National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser is yet to allow voting on the no-confidence motion against Khan, reported Pakistan's Geo News quoting sources.
>Ahead of the no-trust vote in National Assembly, the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has submitted a reference against 20 defiant party members to assembly speaker Asad Qaiser with an aim to get them disqualified, reported local media. The reference, filed on the behalf of PTI chairman Imran Khan under Article 63(A) of Pakistan's constitution, was handed over to the speaker by the party's chief whip Amir Dogar, reported The Nation. The disqualification is being sought on the fact that the dissident members were elected on PTI's ticket, according to the text of the reference.
>According to National Assembly Secretariat sources, the session is likely to continue till midnight.
>Khan's close aide on Saturday warned that those who bought MPs will be responsible if martial law is imposed in the country. The remarks by Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry came hours after Chairman of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari alleged that Khan was seeking military intervention in the country’s political affairs by delaying voting on the no-confidence motion and to create a constitutional crisis.
>Two PTI leaders Fawad Chaudhry and Shah Mahmood Qureshi changed their Twitter bio to "former" federal minister. Imran Khan loyalists changed their Twitter bio to "former" Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting and "former" Foreign Minister of Pakistan respectively. However, minutes later, Chaudhry restored his bio to its original state while Qureshi's bio still remains unchanged.
(With inputs from agencies)
