Following the submission of a no-confidence resolution against Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, the opposition parties’ negotiations with the ruling PTI government’s supporters appear to have reached a conclusion. The ruling alliance is likely to fall apart “in a matter of days, if not hours,” according to opposition officials quoted in Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper.
Allies have already chosen to leave the current coalition, according to a top leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), according to Dawn. The no-confidence motion was presented to the National Assembly Secretariat earlier this week by roughly 100 legislators from the PML-N and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). The leaders claimed that Imran Khan’s government was to blame for growing inflation, an accusation that the prime minister has categorically denied.
The ruling alliance is beginning to show cracks
Despite Khan’s best efforts, the ruling coalition began to fray on Saturday, when Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid accused Federal Minister of Water Resources Moonis Elahi of “blackmailing” the government into appointing him as Punjab Chief Minister in exchange for backing the prime minister, according to Dawn.
Rashid declared his support for PM Khan at a news conference, saying he stood behind him “like a rock.” “I am not in charge of anyone else.” He continued, “I am not like those people…who are blackmailing the province’s chief minister.”
The Pakistani opposition plans to file a no-confidence resolution against the Speaker of the National Assembly. Meanwhile, opposition leaders have accused National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser of being biased in his handling of Khan’s no-confidence vote. A total of 100 members of the National Assembly from the Opposition have signed a no-trust motion against Qaiser.
According to ANI, they claimed, “We are launching a no-trust action against him since he has lost his neutrality.” According to an ARY News report, if a no-confidence motion is filed against the National Assembly speaker, he will be unable to preside over the assembly’s operations.
Imran Khan uses insults and threats against Showbaz Sharif, Diesel, and Dakoo
On Friday, Prime Minister Imran Khan used insulting language and threats against Opposition leaders. According to ANI, he referred to Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Asif Zardari, and Shehbaz Sharif as “Showbaz Sharif, Diesel, and Dakoo,” the three figures supporting the no-trust motion against him. In response to Khan’s remarks, Rehman advised him to “keep his struggle political.”
Khan threatened to unleash a sea of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers on Islamabad a day before the vote on the no-confidence resolution at a press conference on Friday, according to ANI.
“It was my wish that the opposition would file a no-confidence motion against me in the National Assembly,” he added, adding that such a move would almost certainly fail. He went on to list the successes of his government.
If the no-confidence motion fails, the opposition says it will take to the streets
If Khan’s no-confidence vote fails, the opposition has threatened to take to the streets. According to ANI, Pakistan Democratic Movement Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman remarked that in such a case, the country would collapse into anarchy.
Even if the motion against Imran Khan’s government fails, Rehman told The News International that he will not be able to control the country. “Imran Khan should go whether we come or not, and we will use every democratic and constitutional means at our disposal to remove him,” he stated.
Khan received 178 votes last year when he sought a vote of confidence after a candidate endorsed by his party lost the Senate race, according to PTI. He still has 155 members of his Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and 23 coalition partners, including seven from the Mutahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), five each from the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) and the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), three from the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), one each from the Awami Muslim League (AML) and Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP), and one independent.
Meanwhile, the overall number of opponents has risen to 163. The opposition, on the other hand, claims to have the support of 28 lawmakers from the ruling party and its allies.