When Deputy Speaker saw members wanted to vote against PM, 'he ran away': Shehbaz Sharif

Islamabad: Leader of the Opposition in the Pakistan National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday said that Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri once again failed to follow the constitutional procedure by adjourning the debate session on the no-confidence motion,

Addressing a press conference flanked by other joint Opposition leaders, including PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Shahbaz said that when the Deputy Speaker saw that the members of the Parliament wanted to vote against the premier, "he ran away", Geo News reported.

He further said that the entire nation saw that 172 Opposition members were present in the house, but the Deputy Speaker did not allow the voting. "The whole country is shocked, including the judiciary," he maintained.

The crucial session for the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan which started after much delay was adjourned till Sunday, Geo News reported.

The Pakistan National Assembly Secretariat had issued the order of the day for today on Wednesday night, with a discussion on the no-trust move against the Premier on the session's agenda.

The session was held under the chairmanship of Suri, with more than 172 members from the Opposition benches in attendance.

As the session kicked off, during the question and answer session, all the Opposition members demanded the Deputy Speaker allow voting on the no-confidence motion.

At this, Suri said due to the "non-serious" attitude of the Opposition lawmakers, the session is being adjourned till Sunday — almost 10 minutes after it had started, Geo News reported.