Pakistan’s opposition leaders submit no-confidence motion against PM Imran

Islamabad: Pakistan’s Opposition parties on Tuesday submitted a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan, seeking to remove him from office after holding his government responsible for the uncontrolled inflation.

The motion document, which was signed by about 100 lawmakers from the Pakistan Muslims League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), was submitted with the National Assembly Secretariat, PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said. As per rules, signatures of at least 68 Members of Parliament were required to force the Speaker to summon a session, wh i c h s h o u l d be convened between three to seven days to conduct a vote on a no-confidence motion. In the house of 342, the opposition needed the support of 172 members of the National Assembly to remove the Prime Minister and his cabinet.

Khan, 69, is heading a coalition government and he can be removed if some of the partners decide to switch sides, which is not unusual in parliamentary democracies. Opposition parties blame Khan’s government for uncontrolled inflation that has broken the back of poor people of the country, while Khan accuses them of trying to remove as he was not willing to condone the alleged corruption by the leading opposition leaders.

Khan, a former cricketer, came to power in 2018 and elections are to be held in 2023 if he succeeded to ward off the challenge of no-trust move. He had promised to clean the country of corruption and create a new Pakistan. Last year in March, the premier had voluntarily sought a trust vote following an upset in Senate elections. In a show of strength, he had secured 178 votes – six more than required – to win the vote of confidence from the National Assembly, the Dawn website reported. —PTI