Speaker's ruling cannot be challenged, says former Pak Minister

Islamabad: Former Pakistan Minister Fawad Chaudhry said on Sunday that the Speaker's ruling, rejecting the no-confidence motion against the Imran Khan government, cannot be challenged.

Earlier, the Supreme Court of Pakistan on Sunday took suo moto notice of dissolution of the National Assembly by the President, Dunya News reported.

The apex court has formed a special bench to look into the matter.

President Dr Arif Alvi had dissolved the National Assembly on the advice of Prime Minister Imran Khan after its Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri rejected the no-confidence motion submitted by the opposition, terming it against Article 5 of the Constitution.

Opposition's hopes of ousting the premier were dashed after Suri's decision.

Shortly after the session began, Chaudhry said that loyalty to the state was the basic duty of every citizen under Article 5.

"On March 7, our official Ambassador was invited to a meeting attended by the representatives of other countries. The meeting was informed that a motion against PM Imran was being presented," he said.

"We were told that relations with Pakistan were dependent on the success of the no-confidence motion. We were told that if the motion fails, then the upcoming path for Pakistan would be very difficult. This is an operation for a regime change by a foreign government," he alleged.