Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan lost a crucial trust vote in the National Assembly becoming the first premier in the country’s history to be removed through a no-confidence motion.
Khan, 69, was not present in the lower house at the time of voting. His party lawmakers staged a walkout. The joint Opposition – a rainbow of socialist, liberal and radically religious parties – secured the support of 174 members in the 342-member National Assembly, more than the needed strength of 172 to oust the prime minister on a day full of drama and multiple adjournments of the lower house.
No prime minister in Pakistan’s history was ever ousted through a no-confidence motion. Khan is the first premier whose fate was decided through a trust vote. Also, no Pakistani prime minister has ever completed a full five-year term in office.
The opposition had filed the no-confidence motion on March 8, setting a set of events leading to the day of voting and rise in the tension due to Khan’s insistence that he was being targeted as part of a “foreign conspiracy” with the collaboration of top opposition leaders.
Khan, who came to power in 2018 with promises to create a ‘Naya Pakistan’, He seems to have lost support of the powerful Army after he refused to endorse the appointment of the ISI spy agency chief last year. Finally he agreed but it soured his ties with the powerful Army, which has ruled the coup-prone country for more than half of its 75 years.
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