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Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan was ousted by a motion of no confidence in Parliament. Photo/REUTERS
Khan lost power just days after he blocked a no-confidence motion in Parliament.
Saturday’s passing of the motion came after the local Supreme Court ruled that the cricket star-turned-politician acted unconstitutionally by earlier blocking proceedings and dissolving Parliament.
The vote of no confidence, which required 172 votes in Parliament out of 342 seats, was supported by 174 members of Parliament.
Anticipating his defeat, Imran Khan, who accuses the opposition of colluding with the United States to overthrow him, on Friday called on his supporters to stage nationwide rallies on Sunday (10/4/2022).
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Khan’s options are limited and if he sees a large turnout in his support, he may try to maintain the momentum of the street protests as a way to pressure Parliament to call early elections.
Khan had previously tried to avoid voting in a no-confidence vote by dissolving parliament and holding early elections, but a Supreme Court decision ordered voting in Parliament to go ahead.
“We will not seek revenge. We are not going to jail people, but the law will run,” Pakistani opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif said in his speech after the vote that ousted Imran Khan, as quoted by Reuters. Al Jazeera.
Imran Khan, 69, rose to power in 2018 with military backing, but recently lost a majority of Parliament’s votes when his allies withdrew from his coalition government.
Opposition parties say he has failed to revive the COVID-19-hit economy or deliver on promises to make Pakistan corruption-free.
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