Pakistan’s opposition leader Shahbaz Sharif, seated centre, Asif Ali Zardari, second right, and MPs from the government’s coalition party hold a press conference about the country’s latest political situation in Islamabad, Pakistan, Monday, March 28, 2022.
Highlight
- Pakistan PM Imran Khan facing no-confidence motion
- Two key allies of Imran Khan government have withdrawn support
- A united opposition in Pakistan is pressurizing Imran Khan to resign
Pakistan political crisisPakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is facing a no-confidence vote, suffered another setback on Wednesday when a key ally of the ruling coalition said he would support the opposition’s no-confidence motion in the National Assembly. Following this development, the crisis-ridden Imran Khan has now effectively lost his majority in Parliament.
Addressing a press conference, the Muttahida Quami Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), a key ally of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led coalition government, formally announced that it was joining the opposition parties. “We want to make a new beginning for the politics of tolerance and true democracy,” said MQM-P chief Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui.
The Khan government effectively lost a majority after the MQM-P decided to join the opposition with seven members. Another ally of the ruling coalition, the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), with five members in the lower house, announced on Monday that it had “accepted the opposition’s invitation” to vote against Khan.
Who are the top contenders to form the government if Imran Khan resigns?
The current united opposition is led by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shahbaz Sharif (brother of former PM Nawaz Sharif), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) president Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and his father Asif Ali Zardari. Also, now the no-confidence motion has got the support of MQM and BAP. But who can be the possible contender for the post of Prime Minister of Pakistan if Imran Khan resigns.
- Shahbaz Sharif, PML-N chief and brother of former PM Nawaz Sharif, leader of the opposition in Pakistan’s National Assembly and one of the top contenders if Iman Khan fails to save his government.
- Maryam Nawaz, Nawaz Sharif’s daughter. She joined politics in 2012 and was made in charge of the election campaign during the 2013 general election. In the same year, Maryam was promoted as the President of the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme. But in 2014, he had to resign after his appointment was challenged in the Lahore High Court.
Maryam Nawaz was sentenced in July 2018 to seven years in prison and a fine of £2 million for corruption in the Avenfield reference case. But his sentence was suspended by the Islamabad High Court in September that year.
- Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, He is the son of former Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto and former President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari and the current chairman of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). Bilawal became a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan on August 13, 2018.
Meanwhile, earlier in the day, speaking briefly to the media after a special session of the cabinet, which was chaired by the prime minister, Rashid said Khan also shared a “threatening letter” with cabinet colleagues, who in turn I expressed complete confidence in him. ,
Asked whether Khan would announce his resignation in his speech, Rashid said, “Not at all. He will fight till the last ball.”
The minister also said that Khan himself or Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi could also inform Parliament about the threatening letter in the room.
Pakistan plunged into uncertainty on March 8 after a joint opposition presented a resolution in the National Assembly to be convened on Thursday to debate the resolution.
Prime Minister Khan, who needs 172 votes to thwart the opposition’s bid to topple him in a House of 342, is facing his toughest political test since taking office in 2018, as defections in his party And the rift in the ruling coalition has made their position. brittle.
Geo News had earlier reported that MQM-P MPs Farogh Naseem and Aminul Haque as federal ministers have submitted their resignations to the prime minister.
Khan, 69, is heading a coalition government and may be ousted if some allies decide to switch parties. The PTI has 155 members in the 342-member National Assembly and needs at least 172 MPs to retain power. Khan is facing rebellion by nearly two dozen of his MPs and allies.
No prime minister in Pakistan’s history has ever been deposed via a no-confidence motion, and Khan is the third prime minister to face the challenge. no pakistani prime minister ever did Completed a full five-year term in office,
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Khan strictly directed his party MPs not to attend the National Assembly session on the day of voting on the no-confidence motion against him, which is likely to be held in the first week of April.
Khan came to power in 2018 with a promise to create a ‘Naya Pakistan’, but miserably failed to address the fundamental problem of keeping commodity prices under control, setting sail for opposition ships to wage war on his government. was given.
,with PTI input,
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