Islamabad, 08 March 2022 (Daily Dawn)

A delegation of senior opposition lawmakers submitted the no-trust motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan with the National Assembly Secretariat on Tuesday, PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said.

The confirmation from her came after a delegation of opposition lawmakers, including Rana Sanaullah, Ayaz Sadiq, Shazia Marri and Marriyum Aurangzeb, had reached Parliament House in Islamabad.

The opposition has submitted two sets of documents, one under Article 54 of the Constitution to requisition the National Assembly because it is not in session currently, and the other a resolution calling for a no-confidence vote against the prime minister.

According to Article 54, a session of the National Assembly can be requisitioned if at least 25 per cent of the members sign it, following which the speaker has a maximum of 14 days to summon a session.

PPP lawmaker Naveed Qamar told Dawn.com that the requisition had the signatures of 140 MNAs.

Meanwhile, Article 95 of the Constitution and rules of procedure of the house mandate that a no-confidence resolution against the premier must have signatures of at least 20 per cent of the members of the National Assembly, which means at least 68 members, for it to be voted on.

After the National Assembly is in session, the rules of procedure dictate that the secretary will circulate a notice for a no-confidence resolution, which will be moved on the next working day.

From the daytime resolution is moved, it shall not be voted upon before the expiry of three days, according to the rules.

Therefore, the speaker must call the lower house in session by March 22, while voting on the no-confidence motion must take place between March 26 and March 30.

In order to make the no-confidence motion against the prime minister successful, the joint opposition requires a simple majority, which means it needs the support of 172 MNAs from a total of 342.