Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, March 8: The Pakistan government headed by the prime minister Imran Khan is facing a tough challenge to survive as the combined opposition has submitted a no confidence motion against his government and expressed the confidence that it had mustered adequate numbers to topple the Imran Khan ministry.
The Opposition has submitted a no-confidence motion against PM Imran Khan in the National Assembly Secretariat. As the Speaker was not in his office, the resolution was submitted in the Secretariat on Tuesday.
A total of 86 Members of the Pakistan National Assembly from the Opposition have signed the motion. As per rules, 68 MNAs need to sign the petition and the Speaker has 3-7 days to call the session for voting. Further, PML-N MNAs have been directed to remain in Islamabad as the coming 3 weeks were crucial politically.
As per the present respective strength of the treasury benches and the opposition in the Pakistan National Assembly, Imran Khan has the support of 179 members including 155 of his party PTI and seven smaller parties including two independents, while the combined opposition strength is 162 including 84 members of the PML-N and five other parties including two independents.
The Opposition leaders, however, said they were confident of having the numbers to remove Imran Khan. The sources said the opposition was claiming of having the support of 202 National Assembly members. The Opposition has claimed that they have the backing of 28 PTI lawmakers and others from an ally of the government, sources said.
At least 16 PTI lawmakers have the support of PML-N, four with PPP, and two with JUI-F, sources said, while six more members from the PTI are in contact with the PML-N, sources said. In a major development, former senior minister Punjab Aleem Khan joined Jahangir Khan Tareen’s PTI faction a day earlier as he had reservations with the prime minister, but did not specify whom will the group support once the no-confidence motion is moved.
PML-N’s Rana Sanaullah said he was “100%” sure that the no-confidence motion against the government would be successful. “We will soon be relieved of this curse; the leaders will announce the decisions that were made today,” the former provincial minister said.
The motion requisitioning a NA session was submitted by JUI-Fs Shahida Akhtar Ali; PML-Ns Saad Rafique, Marriyum Aurangzeb, Ayaz Sadiq, Rana Sanaullah & PPPs Naveed Qamar & Shazia Marri. On the other hand, Shahbaz Sharif, Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Asif Ali Zardari are to hold a press conference later in the evening to announce decisions taken regarding the no-confidence motion.
Imran Khan on Tuesday summoned the Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) at the Prime Minister’s House to discuss legal aspects as the Opposition tabled the no-trust move against him. According to sources, the AGP briefed the premier regarding the legal implications of the move.
In a consultative meeting after the submission of the no-trust motion, the ruling party vowed to foil the Opposition’s bid to de-seat PM Imran Khan. The huddle, attended by the PM and federal ministers, including Asad Umar and Shafqat Mehmood, was informed that all the party members and allies are united under Imran Khan’s leadership. It was decided that the prime minister would visit MQM-P’s office in Karachi. “Opposition will be defeated and we are not scared of no-trust motion,” PM Imran Khan told the participants. He said that the government was focused on performance.
Speaking to a select group of media persons, the prime minister said he was confident that the government was not going anywhere and that this was the Opposition’s last move. “After this, nothing will happen against this government till 2028 […] Opposition will face a humiliating defeat,” the prime minister said. The prime minister said he knows Jahangir Tareen — who has had sour ties with the PTI — and he would never support “thieves.”
“My lawmakers are being offered Rs180 million [for supporting no-confidence motion]. I told them to take the money and distribute it among the poor.” Endorsing the PTI leaders’ narrative of international conspiracy behind Imran Khan’s removal, the premier said people who do not want an independent foreign policy would support the no-confidence motion.
The Opposition’s heightened activities are backed by money, he claimed. Khan claimed that the army was supporting his government. “The army stands with me, it will never support thieves […] and since the people are not backing the Opposition anymore, they are claiming that the establishment is supporting them,” he said. “A mind game is going on right now, and I am a master at it,” he said.
While addressing at a ceremony in Rawalpindi’s Fatima Jinnah University earlier on Tuesday, Khan had said he was ready for everything the Opposition throws at him. “The powerful desires NRO and threaten to topple the government if they don’t get it but I will not give them that as long as I am alive,” he said. “Once again, I make it loud and clear that I will not extend the gang of thieves and dacoits any relief in the shape of NRO (national reconciliation ordinance),” he said.
Sources close to the Pakistani army, however, indicated that this time the army was not taking sides in the political power-play and has decided to distance away from its past protege Imran Khan. With the Pakistan Army and the ISI not in the picture the cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan may have to produce a special ball to bowl out the opposition, the ruling party sources said.