PM gets vote of confidence from NA’s 180 members out of 191

Negotiations between the government and PTI were held at Parliament House to break political impasse regarding elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and concluded after almost two hours.

ISLAMABAD: The Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif Thursday obtained vote of confidence from 180 members of the National Assembly out of 191 total members.

All members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) are out of the National Assembly after resigning or did not attend it as they are not being allowed to enter into the NA. Only 10 dissent members of PTI were in the opposition.

On the directives of the Chief Justice of Pakistan, PTI delegation met with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) group to talk on holding general elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The dialogues ended without any decision till tomorrow.

The negotiations between government and PTI were held at Parliament House to break political impasse regarding elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and concluded after almost two hours.

A three-member delegation – comprising of Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Fawad Chaudhry and Senator Ali Zafar – were representing PTI in the talks.

Meanwhile, the government’s panel includes Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Senator Yousuf Raza Gillani, Saad Rafique, Naveed Qamar, and Kishwar Zehra. The government and PTI will meet again on Friday (tomorrow) at 3pm.

Talking to journalists outside the meeting room, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar claimed it had been principally decided that matters would be resolved within the ambit of the Constitution.

Meanwhile, Shah Mehmood Qureshi of PTi, said the dialogues ended after two hours and stressed that political parties find solutions to problems through talks.

However, he said, that his party would not allow the talks to be used as a delaying tactic for elections.

PTI leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi hoped for a breakthrough in negotiations. “We should hope for the beat even in despair,” he said.

Moreover, Fawad Chaudhry noted that PTI has only one-point agenda i.e. election. “We have spoken to [party chief] Imran Khan and out matters are settled,” he said, adding that the three-member committee has full mandate.

He further said that as per the Constitution, elections should be held within 90 days of dissolution of assembly. “Negotiations will only take place as per constitution and law”, he added.

‘SC can’t force govt to hold negotiations’

Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday adjourned hearing of a plea seeking simultaneous elections across Pakistan.

At the last hearing before Eidul Fitr, the SC had asked political parties to hold talks on April 26 and come up with a response by April 27 after giving stakeholders a chance to reach an agreement.

A three-member bench comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Ijazul Ahsan heard the case.

At the outset of the hearing, Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Awan told the court first contact between the government and the opposition was held on April 19 and it was decided to hold a meeting on April 26.

Federal Ministers Ayaz Sadiq and Khawaja Saad Rafique met PTI leader and former NA speaker Asad Qaiser who during the meeting said he is not ‘authorised’ for talks, the AGP said.

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