ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan's political future is at stake today, Sunday, as Pakistan's lower house of parliament will vote on a no-confidence motion against the premier, a move he says has been orchestrated by the United States (US).
Opposition parties filed the no-trust motion against PM Khan on March 8, accusing him of economic meltdown, foreign policy failures and poor governance.
Under the Pakistani constitution, a prime minister is elected by a majority of the lower house, the National Assembly. A candidate needs a simple majority of legislators, 172, to vote for him to become prime minister. That is the same number of votes against him in a no-confidence vote needed to oust him and dissolve his cabinet.
On Sunday, opposition and ruling coalition lawmakers gathered at the National Assembly for a session that was scheduled to begin on 1130am but started shortly after noon.
Outside parliament, a small number of supporters of the PM gathered and shouted slogans. Media reported that police had moved to arrest some protesters who had entered a no-go zone.
“Democracy is in great danger,” Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told reporters ahead of the vote. “When Imran Khan leaves [from PM’s office after no-confidence vote], they [opposition] will not tolerate him, they will arrest him. When they arrest him, a new layer of protests will flow through the whole country.”
On Saturday, the PM suggested in remarks to reporters he might not accept the vote to oust him, saying the process had been "discredited" and the move was a "blatant interference in domestic politics by the United States." In speeches earlier, Khan has also spoken about a purported letter that proved a foreign conspiracy to topple his government. The US has denied the allegations.
"How can I accept the result when the entire process [of the no-confidence vote] is discredited?" Khan told a select group of foreign journalists at his office on Saturday. "Democracy functions on moral authority — what moral authority is left after this connivance?"
Ahead of Sunday's vote, up to 100 members of the opposition filed a no-confidence request against National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser.
Security has been beefed up in Islamabad, with hundreds of police and paramilitary troops deployed in the capital's Red Zone, a heavily protected area and home to major government offices and foreign embassies.
The opposition collectively had 162 members, while the government had the support of 179 lawmakers, including its coalition partners.
In recent weeks, however, defections by over a dozen of his party's lawmakers and the exit of coalition partners, including the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) and the Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP), have left Khan short of a simple majority.
MQM-P has seven members in the National Assembly, BAP has five and JWP has only one seat. The opposition has said it is now in excess of votes to oust the prime minister.
Khan could survive a no-confidence vote even if he gets fewer votes than the opposition but only if the latter does not secure the 172 votes that make up a majority in the 342-seat house.
If Khan loses the vote, parliament can continue to function until its five-year tenure ends in August 2023, after which a general election is due within 60 days.
There will be a vote in the National Assembly to elect a new prime minister to serve until then. Candidates can be put forward by any party with legislators in the assembly.
The new prime minister can, however, call a general election immediately, without waiting until 2023.
Some constitutional analysts say the assembly can be dissolved and a general election held if no candidate can secure a majority of votes to become the prime minister.
