No-trust motion: NA session to decide Imran Khan's fate adjourned again

The National Assembly session to decide the fate of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan via voting on a no-confidence motion against him has been adjourned yet again.

The session is now expected to resume at 9:30pm (Bangladesh time 10:30pm) on Saturday, reports Pakistani newspaper Dawn.

The latest adjournment was the fourth of the day as opposition's clamour for immediate voting throughout the day have fallen on deaf ears.

NA Speaker Asad Qaiser was chairing the session when it began at 10:30am, in accordance with the Supreme Court's directives.

However, Amjad Ali Khan Niazi chaired the session for a brief period as the session resumed after the adjournment before Qaiser returned.

Voting on the no-confidence motion against the prime minister is the fourth item on the day's agenda but it has yet to happen. Since morning, opposition and treasury members have been giving speeches on the floor of the house.

While the opposition came out in full force, very few members of the treasury benches were in attendance before the session was adjourned. Prime Minister Imran Khan was also not present.

The opposition needs the support of at least 172 lawmakers from a total of 342 to oust the premier through the no-trust move.

A meeting was held between the treasury and opposition benches in the speaker's chamber after the session was adjourned, where the latter called for holding proceedings according to the Supreme Court's directives.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and PTI leader Amir Dogar participated from the government's side while Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Rana Sanaullah, Ayaz Sadiq, Naveed Qamar and Maulana Asad Mahmood represented the opposition.

Following this, a meeting of the opposition's parliamentary group was called at the opposition leader's chamber. PML-N's Khawaja Saad Rafique, speaking in the NA after the adjournment, said that the speaker had promised that voting would be held after Iftar.

Separately, the government sent a review petition to the apex court against its decision to set aside the deputy speaker's April 3 ruling.

The petition, however, is yet to be filed since the officers of the court did not process it on receipt as they close early in Ramadan. According to the PTI's counsel Azhar Siddique, it will be processed on Monday.