Pakistan’s parliament voted against Prime Minister Imran Khan. In a vote of no confidence, 174 out of 342 lawmakers voted against the former cricket star, as a speaker of parliament announced Saturday-Sunday night in the capital Islamabad. Supporters of government parties had already left the hall. Khan is the first prime minister in Pakistan’s history to be deposed by a vote of no confidence.
Opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif thanked supporters for their fight. “Pakistan will rebuild that unity,” Sharif said.
The South Asian country had been anxiously awaiting the vote since the early hours of the morning. The Supreme Court ordered the planned vote on Thursday after it was canceled nearly a week ago due to alleged unconstitutionality. The subsequent dissolution of parliament by President Arif Alvi was also reversed.
surprising resignation
The vote was initially delayed further and further by Parliament Speaker Asad Qaiser, who presided over the session. The heated debates between government and opposition were interrupted several times. Just before midnight, Qaiser, who belongs to Khan’s ruling party, surprisingly resigned and made his way.
The capital’s government district, Islamabad, was protected by hundreds of security forces after dark. For days, important access roads to the parliament building were blocked with shipping containers for fear of violent protests.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi spoke of a foreign conspiracy on Saturday and called for unity in the country. In recent days, the prime minister has repeatedly accused the United States of wanting to overthrow the Khan government. He did not provide any evidence of this. These could not be shown to the public because they are classified as confidential, government officials said. The main argument of the debate was not wanting to hold the vote.
accusations
The alliance of opposition politicians leading the no-confidence vote accuses Khan of poor governance and incompetence on economic issues. More recently, prices for food, gasoline or gas at the South Asian nuclear power plant, home to some 220 million people, have risen massively.
The prime minister was frustrated by the corona pandemic, which brought the country a huge economic crisis. Instead of lifting the country out of its misery, Khan has recently had to comply with strict International Monetary Fund (IMF) requirements with new taxes and tax increases to get funds again. Khan had only a small majority in parliament.
The nuclear power of more than 220 million people has been governed for more than half of its existence by the military, which has seized power four times. Some observers expressed fears that a prolonged standoff could force him to intervene. Others found this unlikely. Indeed, the army would rather have civilians take the blame for the current economic misery, wrote Pakistani expert Michael Kugelman in Foreign Policy.