Islambad, June 28: Pakistan's parliament will vote today on a no-confidence motion brought against the speaker by an Islamic Opposition Party, the legislature said in a statement today. The party is angry with the speaker for siding with President Gen. Pervez Musharraf in a dispute over extra powers that Musharraf, the head of state, has decreed for himself.
The current deadlock between Musharraf supporters and the Islamic hard-liners has virtually blocked the work of parliament, with opposition lawmakers staging frequent walkouts and boycotting sessions when key laws are discussed.
Speaker Chaudhry Ameer Hussain incensed Islamic hard-liners and other opposition groups earlier this month when he declared legal Musharraf's constitutional amendments, which give the president power to disband parliament and oust the prime minister.
The opposition says Hussain has no legal right to make such a ruling, and wants Musharraf to relinquish his new powers and give up his post of army chief. The president has refused.
Musharraf has said Pakistan needs the military's firm guiding hand to build a democratic state. He pledged to stay in uniform as long as he deems it to be in the nation's interest.
The motion against Hussain was signed by 124 opposition lawmakers from the six-party Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal Islamic alliance. It needs at least 172 votes to pass in the 342-seat parliament. Bureau Report