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Friday, 30 October 2026
Explainer Politics Explained

What is a vote of no confidence and how does it work in Pakistan?

A no-confidence vote lets the National Assembly remove a Prime Minister between elections. Here is what the Constitution requires at each step, and how the three votes held so far turned out.

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About this article: It was prepared with the help of AI tools from public sources and is being reviewed by our editors. If you spot an error, please let us know so that we can correct it.

A vote of no confidence is the constitutional route by which the National Assembly can remove a Prime Minister between general elections. If more than half of all the Assembly’s members back the resolution, the Prime Minister loses office and the Assembly chooses a successor.

Press and court records show three such resolutions against a prime minister going to a vote, in 1989, 2006 and 2022. Only the last one succeeded. This explainer sets out the rules as they stand in October 2026.

What the Constitution says

The power comes from Article 95 of the Constitution:

  • Who can start it: at least 20 per cent of the total membership of the National Assembly must move the resolution. With 336 seats, that means 68 members.
  • When the vote is held: not before three days, and not later than seven days, after the resolution is moved in the Assembly.
  • When it cannot be moved: while the Assembly is considering the demands for grants in the annual budget.
  • What it takes to pass: a majority of the total membership, which is 169 votes today. Members who stay away do not lower that number.

Only the National Assembly votes. The Senate has no part in choosing or removing a prime minister, although the Cabinet is answerable to both Houses under Article 91.

How the process works, step by step

The detail is in Rule 37 and the Second Schedule of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly, 2007.

  1. Notice. Members give written notice of the resolution, signed by at least 20 per cent of the Assembly. If the Assembly is not in session, one-fourth of the members can requisition one, and the Speaker must summon it within 14 days (Article 54).
  2. Circulation. The Secretary circulates the notice to members and enters it in the Orders of the Day for the first working day after one clear day has passed.
  3. Leave to move. After question time, leave is sought to move the resolution. The Supreme Court has described this stage as needing the support of 20 per cent of the total membership.
  4. Debate. Once the resolution is moved, the Speaker may allot a day or days for discussion.
  5. The vote. Voting takes place inside the three-to-seven-day window. Bells ring for five minutes, the lobby entrances are locked, and members who support the resolution file past tellers, who record each name on a division list.
  6. The result. The Speaker announces the count and informs the President in writing, and the result is published in the Gazette.

What a Prime Minister cannot do once notice is given

Two safeguards stop the process being cut short.

First, a Prime Minister can normally advise the President to dissolve the National Assembly. Article 58 takes that power away from a Prime Minister against whom notice of a no-confidence resolution has been given but not yet voted on.

Second, Rule 37 says the Assembly shall not be prorogued, meaning the session cannot be brought to an end, until the resolution has been disposed of or voted upon.

What happens after a successful vote

The Prime Minister ceases to hold office. Article 94 allows the President to ask a prime minister to continue until a successor takes over.

The National Assembly then elects a new Prime Minister from among its members under Article 91, again by a majority of the total membership. The Assembly itself carries on, and its five-year term is not reset.

If no member can command a majority, Article 58 allows the President to dissolve the Assembly. That leads to a general election within 90 days under a caretaker government.

Can members vote against their own party?

They can, but they risk their seats. Under Article 63A, a member who votes or abstains against the direction of their parliamentary party on a confidence or no-confidence vote can be declared a defector by the party head, after being given a chance to explain. The Election Commission has 30 days to confirm or reject the declaration. If it is confirmed, the seat falls vacant.

An appeal lies to the Federal Constitutional Court, which took over this role from the Supreme Court under the Twenty-seventh Amendment of 2025.

Whether a defector’s vote should be counted at all has been disputed. On 17 May 2022, the majority of a five-member Supreme Court bench, answering a presidential reference, said such a vote “cannot be counted and must be disregarded”. On 3 October 2024, another five-member bench unanimously allowed a review petition and set that majority order aside. In its detailed reasons, issued on 10 October 2024, the Court said Article 63A does not state that the votes of any member should not be counted.

The three votes so far

1989. A resolution against Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was voted on in the National Assembly on 1 November 1989. A history column published by Dawn in 2016 says it received 107 votes, short of the 119 then required.

2006. A resolution against Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz was defeated on 29 August 2006. Dawn reported that it received 136 votes against the 172 needed in what was then a 342-seat House.

2022. The Supreme Court’s judgment in Suo Motu Case No. 1 of 2022 records the sequence. On 8 March 2022, 142 opposition members filed notice of a resolution against Prime Minister Imran Khan. Leave to move it was granted on 28 March. The judgment records that Mr Khan told a public rally a diplomatic cypher was proof of a foreign plot to topple his government. On 3 April, the day listed for voting, the Deputy Speaker dismissed the resolution on a point of order, relying on Article 5 of the Constitution, and within hours the President dissolved the Assembly on the Prime Minister’s advice.

On 7 April 2022, a five-member bench of the Supreme Court declared the ruling and the dissolution contrary to the Constitution, held that the Assembly had remained in existence throughout, and directed it to sit no later than 9 April. The Court held that neither the Constitution nor the Assembly’s rules give a Speaker or Deputy Speaker the power to dismiss a no-confidence resolution by a ruling. The Assembly’s official bulletin records that voting began shortly before midnight on 9 April and that, at 12.58am on 10 April, the chair announced that 174 members had voted for the resolution, a majority of the total membership. Dawn reported that Mr Khan was the first prime minister to be removed in this way. On 11 April the Assembly elected Shehbaz Sharif as Prime Minister.

This explainer is part of the series Pakistan Politics Explained.

Frequently asked questions

How many votes are needed to remove the Prime Minister?

A majority of the total membership of the National Assembly: 169 of 336.

Is a no-confidence vote held by secret ballot?

No. Members are counted in an open division and each name is recorded.

What is the difference between a vote of confidence and a vote of no confidence?

A no-confidence resolution is brought by members against the Prime Minister. Under Article 91, if the President is satisfied that the Prime Minister has lost the majority, the President summons the Assembly and requires the Prime Minister to obtain a vote of confidence.

Can a chief minister be removed in the same way?

Yes. Article 136 sets matching rules for provincial assemblies: 20 per cent of the members to move the resolution, a vote between three and seven days later, and a majority of the total membership to pass it.

Sources

Sources accessed on 8 October 2026.

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