Govt faces defeat twice in NA over two bills, Opposition demands PM Khan’s resignation

The government faced defeat twice at the hands of the Opposition in the National Assembly (NA) on Tuesday during voting on motions seeking introduction of two bills, reports Dawn.

Under the session chaired by Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly (NA) Qasim Suri, the Opposition first defeated the government with a 117-104 vote on a motion moved by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) MNA Javed Hasnain. The bill was to seek permission to introduce a private member’s bill aimed at preventing politicians from changing their parties. After the first defeat, most of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) members had left the house.

A motion moved by PTI’s lawmaker Asma Qadeer for a bill seeking to enhance punishment for those who passed offensive remarks against women didn’t pass. Because the deputy speaker announced that he could not allow Qadeer to introduce the bill as the Opposition members had rejected it with a majority and did not give the vote count as the Opposition had visibly outnumbered the treasury members.

It is reported that there had been a significant increase in the number of members on the Opposition benches due to the arrival of PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari in NA.

A day earlier, the government got seven bills passed in the absence of Opposition members from the lower house of parliament.

After the defeat, PML-N’s Ayaz Sadiq said, “Morally, Imran Khan should resign before convening of a joint sitting of the parliament.” He was referring to the government’s plan to call a joint session of parliament this week.

PPP’s Syed Khursheed Shah, who had been in the custody of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for more than two years, was welcomed by a loud desk-thumping by the Opposition members.