Ahead of the no-confidence vote against his government, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has lost his biggest coalition partner Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), which has announced that it is joining hands with the combined opposition.
After weeks of long deliberations, MQM-P finally struck a deal on Tuesday leaving Imran Khan little room to survive the no-confidence motion in the Pakistan National Assembly (NA). The NA is expected to vote anywhere between March 31- April 3.
“Top leaders of MQM-P and the opposition have signed the deal. It is official now. Now the opposition has 177 while the Imran Khan government has only 164 votes in the Assembly. It is game over for the captain. Morally, PM Khan should resign immediately,” says Pakistani journalist Gharidah Farooqi in her post on Twitter.
Now that agreement b/w MQM & Opp is final; w/top leadership of all parties having signed; impossibly hard that one party backs down. Just announcement pending 2mrw
In that case,Game Over, Captain !
Opposition : 177
PTI Govt : 164Morally, PM Khan should resign immediately.
— Gharidah Farooqi (@GFarooqi) March 29, 2022
Besides, over a dozen dissident parliamentarians of Imran Khan’s ruling party have already come into the open criticising the Prime Minister. They have made it clear that they will support the opposition’s no-trust motion even at the cost of being disqualified under the country's anti-defection rules.
But living in denial, Imran Khan still believes some “divine” powers will save his government. In his latest move to thwart the no-confidence vote, he has asked members to "abstain from voting/not attending the meeting of the National Assembly on the date when the said resolution is set out on the agenda … for voting.” Khan warned his ruling party members in the Assembly of “dire consequences” if they go against his orders.
Prime Minister Imran Khan bars the PTI lawmakers from attending the NA meeting on the day of voting on no-confidence motion against him, warning that action would be taken under Article 63-A of the Constitution against those who violate his directives. pic.twitter.com/kjThtWRsp2
— Roohan Ahmed (@Roohan_Ahmed) March 29, 2022
Imran Khan, persisting with his high-pitched rhetoric, “unveiled” on Sunday, his trump card in his “amal bil maroof” Islamabad public speech. During his fiery address, he tried to show “evidence” that some foreign powers, especially the US, were plotting to remove his government and destabilize the country’s economy, because of Pakistan’s independent foreign policy. Khan said that the no-trust motion against him was part of the same conspiracy and that the Pakistani people were being used in a street campaign to oust him.
Quoting sources, Pakistani journalist Kamran Yusuf says that, “reliable sources now confirm PM Imran Khan's claim of "foreign plot" was based on a diplomatic cable sent by Pakistan envoy in Washington and no country wrote a letter directly to Pakistan. Concerned quarters dismiss the internal cable as a threat or plot against the government.”
According to Pakistani watchers, this supposedly “leaked” letter which Imran Khan is calling a “conspiracy”, is a diplomatic cable sent by the Pakistani envoy in Washington DC to the Pakistani foreign secretary in the last week of February.
“The content of the letter was the summary of discussions between the envoy and the officials of the Biden administration on the deteriorating relations between Pakistan and the US and it was shared with Imran Khan and the security establishment. The envoy underlined that he got this impression that if PM Imran Khan is not removed there will be serious consequences for Pakistan,” says one Pakistani watcher.
“Imran Khan’s ‘secret’ surprise regarding foreign conspiracy has turned out to be a damp squib. He may even go as far as revealing state secrets before he is pushed out. Khan is likely to make a last-ditch effort to discredit the security establishment failing to foil foreign plots against the Pakistani government,” says one Pakistani analyst adding that the current crisis that finds Khan adrift in choppy political waters won’t resolve without him losing his government.
Some analysts say that since Khan’s coalition allies are on record that they have left him and Khan’s refusal to participate in the no-confidence debate in the assembly, the Pakistani Supreme Court which is hearing the anti-defection case at present, can ask Imran Khan to resign as his government has lost majority to be in power.
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