Pakistan’s embattled Prime Minister Imran Khan was voted out of power in a high-octane midnight drama, as 174 members of the country’s National Assembly voted against him during a vote on a no-confidence motion. Imran Khan, a former cricketer turned politician, has become Pakistan’s first sitting prime minister to be removed from office by a no-confidence motion.
The no-confidence vote was ordered after Pakistan’s Supreme Court unanimously overturned Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri’s decision to reject the no-confidence motion against Imran Khan on Thursday.
With Imran Khan’s resignation as Prime Minister of Pakistan, the stage is set for Shehbaz Sharif, the Leader of the Opposition and President of the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N). On Sunday at 2 p.m. (Pakistan time), the National Assembly will reconvene to officially elect the new Prime Minister.
Imran Khan loses out on no-trust motion
On Saturday, the National Assembly convened for the no-trust motion at 10.30 a.m. (Pakistan time), but the proceedings were repeatedly delayed. On Saturday, voting began at 11:58 p.m. and lasted until midnight. Speaker Asad Qaiser and Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri both tendered their resignations minutes before the vote began. Ayaz Sadiq, the leader of the opposition party, has been asked to preside over the assembly session.
While Prime Minister Khan chose to abstain from voting, his party’s lawmakers staged a walkout. In the 342-member National Assembly, the no-trust vote was finally passed, with 174 lawmakers voting against Imran Khan’s government. Imran Khan vacated the Prime Minister’s residence even before his government lost a no-confidence vote in the National Assembly.
The opposition is ecstatic, and Imran’s supporters are staging a protest
After the no-confidence vote, opposition leaders rushed to the National Assembly to congratulate Shehbaz Sharif. The PML-N leader promised that the “new regime” would not engage in “revenge politics.” “I don’t want to return to the past’s bitterness. We want to put them behind us and move on. We will not seek vengeance or inflict injustice; we will not imprison people without cause; law and justice will take their course “Shehbaz Sharif said after the election results were announced in a speech.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), congratulated the Assembly on passing the no-trust vote. Meanwhile, supporters of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) staged a protest outside the National Assembly.
Imran Khan reaches to Supreme Court
The Imran Khan government filed a review petition in the Supreme Court, challenging its decision to restore the National Assembly and declare the deputy speaker’s ruling unconstitutional while voting on the no-confidence motion was delayed multiple times.