Salaried persons facing difficulties in making ends meet says Sheikh Rashid

By Muhammad JuniadPublished On 05 Jan 2023

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Interior Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on Saturday said that salaried persons were facing difficulties to run their daily affairs and the government would have to work hard for uplift of the poor during its remaining period.

Speaking here at the floor of the National Assembly, Sheikh Rashid said that Prime Minister Imran Khan would have to work for the uplift of the poor as he did in the past. He said Rs200 billion have been disbursed during the tenure of Imran Khan among the poor under the Ehsaas program.

The minister said that Imran Khan did unprecedented work to uplift the economy during the last two and half years and reduced the total debt and liabilities.

He said that salaried persons were facing difficulties to run their daily affairs and the government would have to work hard for uplift of the poor during its remaining period.

It is pertinent to mention here that Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday received a vote of confidence from the National Assembly during a special session of the lower house of the parliament.

As per details, 178 members of the ruling coalition reposed confidence in the leadership of the Prime Minister while the opposition alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) boycotted the session.

NA Speaker Asad Qaiser chaired the session in which Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi tabled a resolution expressing confidence in the prime minister.

178 members supported the resolution, 6 more than the required 172 for a vote of confidence in the 340 member National Assembly.

Speaker National Assembly announced the result and said Imran Khan became the Prime Minister of Pakistan after securing 176 votes in August 2018, “MashAllah today he has got 178 votes,” as the House erupted in slogans and jubilation by the members who shouted slogans “Prime Minister Imran Khan”.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has 156 members in the National Assembly, while its allies include the MQM-P which has seven seats, the PML-Q and the BAP have five seats each, All Pakistan Muslim League and the Jamhoori Watan Party have one seat each while two independent members are also on the side of the government.

The joint opposition has 160 seats in the National Assembly. There are 83 members from PML-N and 55 from PPP. Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal Pakistan has 15 seats, BNP has 4 seats and ANP has one seat while the opposition also enjoys the support of two independent candidates. However, PDM had announced a complete boycott of today’s National Assembly meeting.

PM Imran Khan, after an upset win by the hands of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) in the Senate election on the Islamabad seat, made the decision to take the vote of confidence from the parliament.

PDM’s joint candidate Yousaf Raza Gillani defeated PTI’s Abdul Hafeez Sheikh in an upset victory and secured 169 votes while Abdul Hafeez Shaikh could only win 164 votes. A total of 7 votes were rejected by the Election Commission of Pakistan.