ISLAMABAD: A top opposition leader said this week an alliance of opposition parties had secured the support of over 20 legislators from the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party for a no-trust vote against Prime Minister Imran Khan expected to take place by the end of this month, adding that the government’s coalition partners were also willing to join hands with the opposition to overthrow Khan.
The comments by Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, a former prime minister and senior leader of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party, came as Pervaiz Elahi, the head of one of the four parties in Khan’s ruling coalition, also said the PM was in danger of losing his coalition partners in the no-confidence vote.
An opposition alliance filed the no-confidence motion against Khan on March 8, accusing him of poor governance and mismanagement of the economy. The alliance consists of major parties such as the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and has a strength of nearly 163 in the lower house. It needs a simple majority of 172 to win the no-confidence vote.
“We have more than 20 PTI members who will vote for this vote of no-confidence,” Abbasi told Arab News in a wide-ranging interview on Tuesday night, adding that the opposition had 163 members of its own in the lower house who were committed to voting against Khan.
“Plus, we’ve at the moment more than 20 members of the ruling party, PTI, who want to join with the opposition in this no-confidence move,” he said.
In total, Abbasi said, the opposition had 172 lawmakers who were “staying in Islamabad and they’ll be available on the voting day.”
The national assembly speaker has not yet summoned the national assembly session to table the no-trust motion or announced the day of voting.
Abbasi said the opposition was also engaged with, and seeking support from, the government’s coalition partners who collectively have 20 seats in the National Assembly. He claimed the government had lost the support of its allies.
“We are hopeful that most of them will also join this no-confidence,” he said. “You’ll see the motion of no-confidence being passed by more than 190 members.”
In an interview to local media on Tuesday, Elahi, a senior leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PMLQ), a key Khan ally, said the collation partners were now “tilting” toward the opposition.
“We’ve invited them to join the no-confidence move and they’ll take a decision,” Abbasi said when asked about the position of the coalition partners. “But the reality is that they are not aligned with the government also today. The government has also lost their support, so we’re hopeful that before the vote takes place, the coalition partners will also join the vote of no-confidence.”
Talking about the opposition’s strategy in case of a successful no confidence vote, Abbasi said it could announce early elections, form a government for a few weeks, or allow the assemblies to complete their term until August 2023.
“My personal view is immediate elections are the only solution because that will give you a mandate to resolve the problems of Pakistan,” he said.
In case Abbasi’s PML-N party won the next general election, he said the president of the party [Shehbaz Sharif] was the choice for PM.
“But that decision all depends on how many seats you win, how you do in the provinces, do you form a coalition government or not, it all depends on all those factors,” the politician added, “but in general, the president of the party is the candidate for the prime ministership.”
And what would happen in case the opposition lost the no confidence vote?
“There’s always a possibility of a loss,” Abbasi said, “but at least the way numbers look today, InshaAllah [God willing], it’ll be a success.”