• Info minister rejects reports of PM taking vote of confidence.
• Aurangzeb says no consultations were held in this regard.
• Tells media to not run stories related to PM “without verification”.

Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb denied reports on Monday that Prime Minster Shehbaz Sharif would take a vote of confidence in the National Assembly.

The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)-led government has been on its toes since coming into power in April last year, with repeated protests from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), a distressed economy, and its recent standoff with the judiciary.

“The prime minister did not decide to take a vote of confidence. There were no such consultations and there is no need for the [vote of confidence],” Aurangzeb said in a tweet.

The minister termed Shehbaz — who was sworn in as the premier on April 11, 2022 — as the “unanimous” candidate of the people, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and the coalition parties. 

The information minister claimed that “rumours” are not facts and asked media outlets not to run news stories pertaining to the prime minister “without verification”.

The minister’s tweet came after sources told Geo News that the premier had decided to take a vote of confidence this week, while consultations with PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif had been completed.

The prime minister, the sources said, had directed parliamentarians of all ruling parties to be present in Islamabad for the vote.