Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri. Courtesy National Assembly of Pakistan
Qasim Suri of the former ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Saturday resigned as deputy speaker of the National Assembly, shortly before a session of the Lower House was to convene and vote on a no-trust motion against him.
According to his resignation, which he shared on Twitter, Suri said his decision was in line with the policy of his party and its firm resolve to safeguard “the interests and independence of our country.” Reiterating PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s unproven allegations of the vote of no-confidence against him being linked to “foreign interference,” the former deputy speaker defended his controversial actions by claiming he could not have been “instrumental in the unconstitutional act” of allowing the vote of no-confidence. As was made clear earlier this week, Suri had not read the diplomatic cable when he ruled to dismiss the no-confidence vote on the basis of a “foreign conspiracy.”
Suri also reiterated claims that Khan was “targeted” for his stance against Islamophobia and refusal to provide military bases in Pakistan to the U.S.—the latter having been rebutted by the military spokesman, who said Washington had never asked Islamabad for this.
Suri, who had taken over as acting speaker following the resignation of Asad Qaiser last week, had come under intense criticism over his April 3 ruling to dismiss a no-confidence motion against former prime minister Imran Khan. The Supreme Court ruled that this dismissal was unconstitutional and reversed it, paving the way for Khan to be ousted from office and for Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif to be elected as Leader of the House.
Rather than displaying any contrition, Suri had defended his actions, claiming he was acting “in the national interest” and had doubled down on his contentious tactics by deferring the session scheduled for the NA speaker’s election from April 16 to April 22 in what was widely perceived as a delaying exercise. The decision had the added benefit of delaying the vote on a no-trust motion filed by the former opposition against Suri, which had maintained that he had “repeatedly violated the rules, parliamentary practices, democratic norms and traditions, and even Constitutional provisions and when presiding over the House, failed to conduct proceedings in an orderly manner to enable productive debate on issues of public importance.”
He has also been criticized for accepting the resignations of 123 PTI MNAs from the National Assembly in seeming violation of stated norms: the resignations must be handwritten, while the PTI submitted form letters with names changed; and the speaker must individually interview all resigning MNAs to determine if they were forced into quitting. The Pakistan Peoples Party and the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) have both accused Suri of pressuring the NA Secretariat into accepting the resignations.
New speaker
Following Suri’s resignation, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf of the PPP is set to assume the office of the NA speaker, as he was the only candidate who submitted nomination papers. A former prime minister, Ashraf will be administered oath of the new speaker today (Saturday), with the Lower House expected to vote on a new deputy speaker shortly after.