They fought until the end. But just before midnight on Saturday, the people of Imran Khan cleared the way to avoid an absolute escalation in Pakistan’s constitutional crisis. In the capital, Islamabad, security forces had already deployed everywhere to stem the impending unrest.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court ordered the National Assembly to vote on Saturday on the motion of censure on Prime Minister Khan’s government, which had been delayed for weeks. However, Khan’s confidant, Speaker of Parliament Asad Qaisar, managed to prevent the vote for many hours because of increasing delays, until he finally vacated his seat a few minutes before midnight. A short time later, 174 deputies finally voted to remove the government – two more than what was needed for the majority.
This is the first time in Pakistan’s history of political crises that a prime minister has been overthrown by a vote of no confidence. Former cricket star Khan had long been derided as a soft politician until he won the 2018 election against the two traditional political blocs PPP and PML-N. During his time as captain of the national cricket team, Khan had filled the gossip columns as a sophisticated playboy.
Vain hope of fresh wind
Politically, however, after turning to religion, he portrayed himself as a moderate Islamist campaigning against the influence of the West and the International Monetary Fund. Many hoped he would bring a breath of fresh air to Pakistani politics, which for decades has been torn between the two powerful blocs PPP and PML-N, dominated by families and dominated by corruption. But even so, critics were of the opinion that Khan had come to power only with the massive support of the military, who had always pulled the strings in Pakistan and who apparently regarded the politically inexperienced Khan as easy to control.
Two men in Peshawar watch the headlines on Sunday. : Image: EPA
He acted awkwardly and was largely unsuccessful politically. Last but not least, the corona pandemic thwarted most of his retirement plans. Khan was unable to control the worsening economic crisis. Dissatisfaction grew, but instead of reaching out to his critics, Khan increasingly turned to the repressive tools of the military-controlled security agencies. Recently, the level of criticism among the population of the truly respected nuclear power army has reached unprecedented proportions, which is why the generals have apparently withdrawn support from their protege.
When the opposition blocs PPP and PML-N finally temporarily buried their old enmity and not only managed to win over Khan’s main coalition partners, but also announced several MPs from Khan’s PTI that they would vote in favor of a no-confidence motion in his government , Khan finally decided to escalate: he began to rave about a conspiracy created by Washington. Its Speaker of Parliament declared the motion of censure unconstitutional, citing this “conspiracy” and President Arif Alvi dissolved the National Assembly at Khan’s request. Khan would have the opportunity to campaign as head of government. But the Supreme Court dismantled Khan’s conspiracy allegations, reinstated Parliament and ordered that Khan’s removal be voted on on Saturday.
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Government power is now returning to the two political forces that have shaped Pakistani politics in recent decades, sometimes against and sometimes with the military. Shehbaz Sharif, brother of PML-N strongman and multi-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, put forward his candidacy to run for prime minister on Sunday. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, grandson of PPP founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and son of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated in 2008, will apparently be given an important ministerial post. Khan’s PTI party announced that all of its lawmakers would resign on Monday in protest.