A crucial National Assembly session to decide the fate of Prime Minister Imran Khan's government is currently underway. The session was originally scheduled to begin at 11:30am but was delayed by half an hour.
Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri is chairing today's session after opposition parties, in a surprise move, filed a no-confidence motion against Speaker Asad Qaiser.
The prime minister, who had last night said that he would be attending today's proceedings, was not among the lawmakers gathered as the session began.
Opposition lawmakers appeared confident of the success of the no-trust move as they made their way to Parliament House.
The opposition needs the support of at least 172 lawmakers from a total of 342 to oust the premier through the no-trust move.
Khan's likely replacement as prime minister would be Shehbaz Sharif. His brother is Nawaz Sharif, a three-time serving prime minister now convicted on corruption charges which he has always regarded as politically motivated.
Khan has been a staunch campaigner against corruption, and has accused opposition parties of paying off members of parliament to vote against him, an allegation they deny. The rising cost of living is a complaint of nearly all the voters we speak to at a handful of markets across the constituency.
Price rises have been significantly sharper in Pakistan than in most of its neighbours.
Khan is widely regarded as having come to power with the help of Pakistan's army, but now observers say they have fallen out. His political opponents are seizing the opportunity to strike whilst he's weak, persuading a number of his coalition partners to defect to them.
The vote was expected some time after Parliament convened Sunday but parliamentary rules allow for three to seven days of debate. The opposition says it has the numbers for an immediate vote, but Khan’s party could force a delay.
Giant metal containers blocked roads and entrances to the capital’s diplomatic enclave and to Parliament and other sensitive government installations in the capital. A defiant Khan called for supporters to stage demonstrations countrywide to protest the vote.
Khan has accused the opposition of being in cahoots with the United States to unseat him, saying America wants him gone over his foreign policy choices that often favor China and Russia. Khan has also been a strident opponent of America’s war on terror and Pakistan’s partnership in that war with Washington.
Khan has circulated a memo which he insists provides proof that Washington conspired with Pakistan’s opposition to unseat him because America wants “me, personally, gone... and everything would be forgiven.”
A loss for Khan would give his opponents the opportunity to form a new government and rule until elections, which are scheduled to be held next year. The opposition could also choose to call early elections.
Residents of Pakistan’s largest province Punjab were set to vote Sunday for a new chief minister. Khan’s choice faced a tough challenge and his opponents claimed they had enough votes to install their choice.
With 60% of Pakistan’s 220 million people living in Punjab, it is considered the most powerful of the country’s four provinces. Also on Sunday the government announced the dismissal of the provincial governor, whose role is largely ceremonial and is chosen by the federal government. But it further deepened the political turmoil in Pakistan.
Pakistan’s main opposition parties, whose ideologies span the spectrum from left to right to radically religious, have been rallying for Khan’s ouster almost since he was elected in 2018.
(with inputs from AP)
