As the proceedings set about in the National Assembly, in a somewhat familiar fashion, the assembly halls echoed of political slurs targeted against one (treasury) or the other (opposition).
Chairing the assembly, Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri advised the members, especially those seated in the gallery, to maintain the decorum of the house. Talking to the guests in the gallery, he said that “you’d be forced out, if you don’t abide by the rules of the house,” further adding that he had a “special announcement to make.”
Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri announces to forward the declassified letter of foreign conspiracy for a regime change in Pakistan to the Chief Justice of Supreme Court.
— Wajahat Kazmi (@KazmiWajahat) April 11, 2022
The Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri announced to forward the declassified diplomatic cable received by the Pakistani Ambassador to the United States for a regime change in Pakistan to the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Umar Ata Bandial.
It is pertinent to mention that a federal cabinet meeting held on 09-04-2022 decided to declassify the diplomatic cable, after which it was posted to the secretariat for the perusal of the Speaker of the National Assembly.
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Heading the session, deputy speaker Qasim Suri noted that the former Speaker, Asad Qaiser, had stepped down immediately after he understood the grave nature of the situation. He added that he, too, had now read the letter. He underscored that the letter had taken a very threatening tone and warned Pakistan of grave consequences in case the no-trust motion against the incumbent government fails. He further added that it is important to note that the letter was received a day before the opposition even tabled the no-confidence resolution against the government.
Underlining the National Assembly proceedings, which took place under orders given by the Supreme Court of Pakistan, he said that the “voting has already happened,” and the result is “before you.” He further added that there has been “much deliberation on the orders that I gave on 03-04-2022,” and it is our utmost duty to respect the ruling given by the apex court. However, the deputy speaker added that he took the decision “as a patriotic Pakistani” and a “defender of the National Assembly.”
He emphasized that the diplomatic cable had been a matter of serious discussions in the federal cabinet, national security committee, and the parliamentary national security committee meetings, and it was agreed upon in all the meetings that the vote of no-trust motion targeted against the Prime Minister of Pakistan was, in fact, a “foreign conspiracy” to change the regime in Pakistan.
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The deputy speaker’s speech was followed by a speech from Shah Mahmood Qureshi, after which the deputy speaker announced that his “conscience does not allow him to proceed with the item number two of the agenda” and invited Minister National Assembly Ayaz Sadiq to further the proceedings.