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Pakistan’s joint opposition seeks PM Khan’s resignation after key coalition partner abandons government

Leader of the MQM-P Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, second left, with opposition parties leaders Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, left, Shahbaz Sharif, second right, and Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman give a press conference, in Islamabad, Pakistan, on March 30, 2022. (AP)
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Updated 30 March 2022
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Pakistan’s joint opposition seeks PM Khan’s resignation after key coalition partner abandons government

  • Without vote of MQM-P, Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has fallen short of 172 votes needed to retain power
  • Information minister said earlier in the day the PM would not resign and ‘fight until the last ball’
Updated 30 March 2022
NAIMAT KHAN

KARACHI: Pakistan’s leading opposition figures on Wednesday asked Prime Minister Imran Khan to resign after a major coalition partner formally announced to abandon the government, making the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party lose its majority in the national assembly.
Minister for information Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said earlier in the day the prime minister would not step down after the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) struck a deal with the opposition Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and signaled it would vote against Khan in a no-confidence vote expected to take place early next month.
“The prime minister should set a new tradition by handing in his resignation after losing his numerical strength [in the national assembly],” said Shehbaz Sharif, leader of the opposition in the national assembly, during a joint news conference with other politicians who want to bring down the government.
He said the agreement between the PPP and MQM-P had taken place within 20 minutes during a meeting of their leaders last night while congratulating the two parties for setting aside their past political differences.
PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari also agreed with Sharif, saying that Khan should step down.
“Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan has lost his majority,” he said. “Today, MQM Pakistan has joined the opposition ranks. Shehbaz Sharif has rightly given a challenge in the spirit of statesmanship to [PM Khan to] resign.”
The PPP leader added: “The prime minister does not have any option. Either he should resign or come to the parliamentary session tomorrow to settle this issue.”
He maintained the prime minister’s removal would help Pakistan resume its democratic journey again.
Without the vote of the MQM-P, Khan’s PTI administration would fall short of the 172 needed to retain power. Khan’s four coalition parties have a total of 20 seats in the lower house of parliament.
However, the prime minister’s close aides have ruled out the possibility of his resignation despite the recent setback.
“Prime Minister Imran Khan is a player who plays until the last ball,” the information minister said on Twitter, adding the PM would not resign.


Even before the MQM-P’s joint news conference with the opposition parties, MQM leaders Syed Aminul Haque, federal minister for IT and Telecom, and law minister Farogh Naseem, had resigned from their posts.
Speaking to Arab News, Faisal Karim Kundi, the PPP’s central information secretary, confirmed that the MQM-P had decided to join the opposition.
“The MQM-P will formally announce the decision and [make] public the points of the deal but I can just tell that Sindh’s governorship for the MQM-P is one of the agreed points of the deal,” Kundi said, referring to giving the coveted slot of the governor of the southern Sindh province to the MQM-P in exchange for siding with the opposition alliance.
“The united opposition and MQM have reached an agreement,” Bhutto-Zardari also announced on Twitter, adding that the agreement would be ratified by the executive committees of both parties and the details shared with the public in a press conference. “Congratulations Pakistan.”




Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, co-chairperson of PPP (2nd from L), former President Asif Ali Zardari (3rd from L) meets MQM-P Deputy Convener Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui (2nd from L) in Islamabad, Mar 30, 2022. (PPPP/Twitter)

Pakistani opposition legislators have been wooing ruling party legislators away for weeks and tabled a no-confidence motion against Khan in parliament Monday, hoping to oust his government amid accusations he has mismanaged the economy and governed poorly. 
Khan came to power in a 2018 election, securing 176 seats. He needs 172 votes to remain in power but about a dozen lawmakers from his ruling party have defected, weakening his position.
The ruling PTI accuses the opposition of bribing its lawmakers to vote against the prime minister. It has also filed a presidential reference in the supreme court seeking an interpretation of Article 63-A, which sets down rules in the constitution for the disqualification of lawmakers in the case of defection and violation of party policy. Khan’s party is calling for the lifetime disqualification of defectors.
On Tuesday, Khan directed all ruling party members to abstain from the no-confidence vote.

Topics: Pakistan politics no confidence motion Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) MQM-P Khalid Maqbool Asif Ali Zardari Shehbaz Sharif

Afghan leadership vows action against militants using its soil for cross-border attacks

Updated 5 sec ago
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Afghan leadership vows action against militants using its soil for cross-border attacks

  • Foreign minister says Islamic Emirate has not authorized any individual or group to carry out military operations in other countries
  • Pakistan and Afghanistan have struggled to maintain a fragile truce after border clashes killed dozens in October this year
Updated 5 sec ago
NAIMAT KHAN

ISLAMABAD: The government in Kabul has pledged this week that Afghan territory will not be used to harm other countries and warned that anyone found violating that directive would face action by the Islamic Emirate.

The remarks by Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi came after a gathering of Afghan religious scholars who reportedly passed a resolution barring the use of Afghan soil for attacks abroad. According to Afghan broadcaster Tolo News, around 1,000 scholars attended the meeting and endorsed measures allowing the government to act against violators.

Pakistan and Afghanistan have struggled to maintain a fragile truce after border clashes killed dozens in October, their worst fighting since the Afghan Taliban took control of Kabul in 2021. Islamabad has blamed a surge in violence in Pakistan on militants who use Afghan soil to plan their attacks on security forces across the border. Kabul denies the charges, saying Pakistan’s security is an internal problem.

Kabul and Islamabad, once longtime allies, have engaged in intermittent border skirmishes since October, including heavy firing on Friday that killed at least five people. Three rounds of peace talks hosted by Qatar, Turkiye and Saudi Arabia have failed to produce a lasting agreement.

“Officials, leaders, and leadership of the Islamic system have pledged that the territory of Afghanistan will not be used to harm anyone,” Muttaqi said in a speech on Thursday. 

“All scholars and hadith experts also agree that obeying this command is obligatory for all Muslims, and if anyone uses Afghan soil to harm others, the Islamic Emirate has the right to stop them.”

He said the Afghan leadership had not authorized any individual or group to carry out military operations in other countries and the Islamic Emirate was entitled to take action against anyone who violated that directive.

Muttaqi also urged unity within the Muslim world, saying scholars had repeatedly advised against internal hostility. 

“Muslims must pay attention to unity and harmony among themselves, avoid hostility toward one another, and act with brotherhood and fraternity,” he said, calling adherence to scholars’ guidance a “shared duty.”

Pakistan on Thursday welcomed reports of the Afghan scholars’ resolution but said it still required formal, written assurances from Afghanistan’s leadership. 

Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi told reporters on Thursday he had not seen the full text of the scholars’ resolution and that similar commitments had been made in the past but were not honored.

“Any developments with regards to the fact that Afghan leadership, the segment of Afghan society, realized the gravity of the situation that their soil is being used by not just TTP, but also by their own nationals to perpetrate terrorism in Pakistan, any realization to this effect is positive and one would certainly welcome it,” Andrabi said. 

However, he added that the resolution did not explicitly mention Pakistan or militant groups Islamabad has accused of launching cross-border attacks.

The shared mountainous border regions between Pakistan and Afghanistan are home to militants from the Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban, who have waged a war against the Pakistani state for nearly 20 years.

The TTP adheres to a strict interpretation of Islamic law akin to their counterparts in Kabul, although the Afghan Taliban maintains that they do not share an operational relationship with the group.

Topics: Afghanistan Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Amir Khan Muttaqi

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