Beleaguered Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan finds himself juggling demands from coalition allies who are playing hardball as the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government braces for a trust vote in the country’s parliament.
Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q), an important PTI ally at the Centre and Punjab province, has reportedly demanded that Chaudhry Parvez Elahi should be installed as Punjab chief minister, replacing Usman Buzdar, before the no-trust motion.
The opposition needs a simple majority of 172 to win the no-confidence vote, and sources told News18 that the bloc is short of just 11 votes to reach that number.
As per rules, the speaker of the National Assembly, the lower house, must convene parliament within two weeks of the no-confidence motion being filed, but it could be weeks before the vote comes to pass. The upcoming visit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) teams which would be using the same building could be a reason for the delay.
The country’s opposition parties had moved the no-confidence motion seeking Imran Khan’s ouster on March 8, accusing him of mismanaging the economy and poor governance in the toughest challenge he has faced since taking power in 2018.
Before moving the motion, the opposition, led by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), had rallied thousands of supporters to demonstrate against Khan, raising the prospect of political turmoil for India’s nuclear-armed neighbour.
Opposition lawmakers and political analysts say Khan, a former cricket star, has lost the backing of the powerful military whose support they say secured the path to power for his upstart political party four years ago. Khan has denied the military helped him into office and the military too says it does not interfere in politics.
“Whatever they do, I’m ready for that,” Imran Khan told a gathering in Islamabad last week.
Opposition leaders say Khan has lost public support as he struggles with high inflation, a rising current account deficit and depleting foreign reserves. Khan has responded to economic problems with cuts in fuel and electricity prices, while rejecting calls to step down and warning the opposition of unspecified consequences if they force a vote of no-confidence.
Both the opposition and Khan’s party are riven by factions. Khan won a confidence vote last year by six votes.
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