ISLAMABAD: As the Prime Minister Imran Khan government announced it would hold a “historic” public rally in front of the Parliament House in Islamabad on March 27, an alliance of opposition parties called on its supporters to embark on a “long march” to the capital starting March 23.
The Pakistan Day parade is held on March 23 every year to commemorate the Lahore Resolution, which was adopted on the same day in 1940 and laid the foundation for a Muslim-majority state in South Asia. This year, March 23 will also coincide with Islamabad hosting the 48th Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers meeting. At least 46 OIC foreign ministers have confirmed participation.
Khan announced his March 27 rally as a show of force for his government ahead of a parliamentary vote on a no-confidence motion filed against him by the opposition last Tuesday. The date for the vote has not yet been set. First the speaker of the national assembly must convene a session where the motion can be tabled.
On Monday evening, Maulana Fazlur Rehman of the Jamiat-e-Ulama-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), who also heads the Pakistan Democratic Movement, an opposition alliance against Khan, asked supporters of the opposition to embark on a long march to the capital on March 23.
“I had already said that Fazlur Rehman’s main agenda was against the Islamic Foreign Ministers Conference,” Information Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said after Rehman’s press conference.
Since last week, Khan has been addressing public rallies across Pakistan to garner public support against the no-trust motion that comes as his government grapples with a chronic economic crisis and rising inflation amid reports of strained ties with the all-powerful military.
“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 on Monday shortly after a meeting of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party’s core committee, chaired by the prime minister. “The world will see how Pakistani people stand by their Kaptaan for their independence and integrity.”
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.”
“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.
Opposition parties say they have the required numbers to win the no trust vote as they struggle to convince the government’s allied parties to leave the coalition.
Addressing a news conference on Monday, foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the ruling PTI party 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.”
