Qasim Suri

Qasim Suri
قاسم سوری
Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan
In office
13 August 2018 – 17 January 2023
ConstituencyNA-265 (Quetta-II)
19th Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan
In office
15 August 2018 – 16 April 2022
SpeakerAsad Qaiser
Preceded byMurtaza Javed Abbasi
Succeeded byZahid Akram Durrani
Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan (Acting)
In office
10 April 2022 – 16 April 2022
Preceded byAsad Qaiser
Succeeded byRaja Parvez Ashraf
President of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Balochistan
In office
25 December 2021 – 14 April 2023
ChairmanImran Khan
Succeeded byDr. Muneer Baloch
Personal details
Born
Muhammad Qasim Khan Suri

(1969-01-16) 16 January 1969 (age 55)[1]
Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan
Political partyPTI (2007-present)
Children3[1]
EducationFederal Government College
Alma materUniversity of Balochistan

Qasim Khan Suri (Urdu: قاسم خان سوری; born 16 January 1969) is a Pakistani politician. He served as the 19th Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan from 15 August 2018 to 16 April 2022. He had also been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from August 2018 till January 2023.

Early life and education

He was born in January 1969 in Quetta, Balochistan to a Pashtun family of the Sur tribe, a sub-clan of the Khiljis.[1]

The eldest among three brothers and three sisters, his father Rafique Ahmed Khan had a medicine business which Suri took over in 1997 after his death, becoming the managing director of Muhammadi Traders of Pharmaceutical Distributor Est, while his other source of income is agriculture.[1] His mother is of Urdu-speaking background.[1]

Suri received his early education from the Quetta Islamia School and enrolled in Federal Government College in 1988. He received a bachelor's degree in political science in 1990 and a master's degree in international relations in 1992, both from the University of Balochistan.[1]

Political career

Suri have been associated with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) since 1996 but became active member in 2007.[2]

He ran for the seat of the National Assembly of Pakistan as a candidate of PTI from Constituency NA-259 (Quetta) in 2013 Pakistani general election but was unsuccessful. He received 16,006 votes and lost the seat to Mahmood Khan Achakzai.[3]

He was elected to the National Assembly as a candidate of PTI from NA-265 (Quetta-II) in 2018 Pakistani general election.[4] He received 25,973 votes and defeated Nawabzada Lashkari Raisani.[5]

Following Suri's successful election, PTI nominated him for the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan on 13 August 2018.[6] On 15 August 2018, he was elected as Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan. He received 183 votes out of a total of 327, defeating his opponent, Asad Mehmood who secured 144 votes.[7]

On 27 September 2019, an election tribunal of Balochistan High Court nullified Suri's election and ordered fresh elections in the constituency, that resulted in his denotification.[8][9] On 7 October 2019, however the Supreme Court of Pakistan suspended the election tribunal's decision and ordered the ECP not to issue the election schedule for NA-265.[10][11]

On 3rd April, as deputy speaker, Suri, dismissed a no-confidence motion against Imran Khan, claiming that the alleged US involvement was against Article 5 of the Constitution of Pakistan.[12]

He resigned on 16 April 2022 to avoid the motion of no confidence against Imran Khan.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Notezai, Muhammad Akbar (14 August 2018). "Qasim Suri: perseverance pays off". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
  2. ^ "PTI nominates Qasim Khan Suri for NA deputy speaker slot | The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. 13 August 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  3. ^ "2013 election result" (PDF). ECP. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
  4. ^ "Imran Khan's PTI on top as election results come in". Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  5. ^ "Election results: Imran Khan's PTI on top". Geo News. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  6. ^ "PTI nominates Balochistan MNA Qasim Suri for deputy speaker post". DAWN.COM. 13 August 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  7. ^ "PTI's Asad Qaiser sworn in as NA speaker amid opposition ruckus". DAWN.COM. 15 August 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  8. ^ Nihad Ghalib (2019-09-27). "Qasim Suri's National Assembly membership nullified by election tribunal". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2019-09-27.
  9. ^ "ECP de-notifies Qasim Suri as National Assembly member". The Express Tribune. October 2, 2019.
  10. ^ "SC suspends tribunal's decision to de-seat Qasim Suri". 7 October 2019.
  11. ^ "SC suspends election tribunal's decision to deseat Qasim Suri". Dawn. October 7, 2019.
  12. ^ Chaudhry, Dawn com | Nadir Gurmani | Fahad (2022-04-03). "NA speaker dismisses no-trust move against PM Imran, terms it contradictory to Article 5". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2022-04-04.