ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan will address a “historic” public rally in front of the Parliament House in Islamabad on March 27 to display his party's political power ahead of a parliamentary vote on a no-confidence motion filed against him by the opposition.
Khan started addressing public rallies in different cities to garner public support soon after the country’s leading opposition factions filed the no-trust motion in the National Assembly Secretariat last Tuesday, accusing him of poor governance since assuming the top political office in the country in August 2018.
In one of his speeches delivered in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Lower Dir district, he promised to gather a “sea of people” in front of the parliament building a day ahead the no-confidence vote.
“Kaptaan [Imran Khan] has taken a final decision on D-chowk public gathering in Islamabad. God willing, a historic rally is going to take place on March 27,” Asad Umar, federal minister for planning and development, tweeted shortly after the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party’s core committee meeting that was chaired by the prime minister.
“The world will see how Pakistani people stand by their Kaptaan for their independence and integrity,” he added.
The prime minister has tasked his party leaders to gather at least one million people in the federal capital a day ahead of the no-trust voting.
Senator Faisal Javed Khan, a close Khan aide, also wrote in a Twitter post that voting on the no-confidence motion would take place after March 27 when the PTI would hold “the biggest rally in the history of Pakistan ... at Azadi Chowk, Islamabad.”
“Prime Minister Imran Khan will deliver a historic speech,” he said. “The opposition will face absolute defeat in the no-confidence motion.”
The opposition requires at least 172 votes in the 342-member National Assembly to topple Khan’s government. The current party position in the lower house of parliament shows that the opposition collectively has 162 members while the government enjoys the support of 179 lawmakers including its coalition partners.
The opposition parties claim to have secured support of the required number as they are also trying to convince the government’s allied parties to come out of the coalition.
However, Pakistan’s information minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said the opposition’s no-confidence motion against the prime minister had united the ruling party and energized their supporters.
“The prime minister has never been blackmailed nor will that happen in the future,” he continued.
Addressing a news conference on Monday, foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi also maintained the PTI had “complete trust” in its allies in the federal government: the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Grand Democratic Alliance and the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP).
“I have been constantly saying and will repeat today that I, as a political worker, believe that all our allies ... [are with us and] and my party and I have complete faith in them,” he told reporters. “We believe they are very refined and honorable people. They have supported us at various points in these three years and we were, are and will remain thankful to them.”
“They are experienced politicians and they won’t easily be fooled. To meet and listen [to others] is everyone’s right but they understand everything,” the foreign minister added.
