Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, March 29: After repeatedly asserting that he will not quit in a hurry and will be on the crease till the last ball, the Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician prime minister Imran Khan has directed his party members to boycott voting on the no-confidence motion by staying away from the National Assembly on the day of debate and voting on the opposition-sponsored motion against his government.
In a directive issued to all members of his Tehreek-e-Insaf PTI) party on Tuesday, Khan told his supporters in the National Assembly to not attend parliament on March 31, the day of voting on the no-trust motion against the prime minister. The house will begin a debate on the motion on Thursday and a vote is to be held within seven days.
The letter – Directions to abstain from voting on the No Confidence Resolution moved in the National Assembly against the honourable Prime Minister of Pakistan – has listed out do’s and don’ts for PTI members in the Assembly and ordered them to “strictly” follow the directives with “regards to the resolution of no confidence against the prime minister of Pakistan.” It has been signed by Imran Khan, who is also the Chairman and the parliamentary leader of the PTI party.
“All the members of the Parliamentary Party of Pakistan Tehreek-e -Insaf in the National Assembly of Pakistan shall abstain from voting/ not attend the meeting of the National Assembly on the date when the said resolution is set out on the agenda of the National Assembly for voting,” it said.
“No member of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf shall attend or make himself/herself available at the time and day of voting on the resolution of No-Confidence. Duly designated Parliamentary members will speak on behalf of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, during the course of debate on this motion.”
The letter also threatened the party members with disqualification if they violated the party mandate. “All members are required to adhere to these directions in true letter and spirit and keep in mind the intent behind the provision of Article 63-A of the Constitution of Pakistan, 1973,” the letter read. Article 63A of the Pakistan Constitution deals with disqualification on grounds of defection.
“It is made clear to all members that no member shall violate any instruction or extend any favour, relating to the vote of no confidence, to any other parliamentary party / group whatsoever. Every/any violation of these directions shall be treated as express defection in terms of Article 63-A,” it outlined.
Imran Khan is facing a no-trust vote, brought against him by the Leader of the Opposition, Shehbaz Sharif, the brother of Nawaz Sharif, the three-term former prime minister of Pakistan. Khan must have the support of 172 members in the 342-member National Assembly to save his government from collapsing.
The order apparently was issued to discourage the rebel members of his party from voting in favour of the motion in alliance with the opposition parties which have claimed to have the required support in the National Assembly to get the motion through. At least 20 members of the PTI have already reportedly siding with the opposition and a few more are likely to follow suit by the time the motion was taken up for voting, opposition sources said.
Pakistan’s opposition parties have vowed to bring down the beleaguered government of Imran Khan who is facing his toughest political test since assuming office in 2018.
The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), which among others include Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-I), organised a big rally on the Srinagar Highway in Islamabad on Monday night. Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) vice president Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of Nawaz Sharif, and leader of the opposition in Punjab Assembly Hamza Shehbaz who had started the rally from Lahore on March 26, arrived two days later in Islamabad to join the supporters of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and other Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) parties who had already set up a camp.
Maryam Nawaz claimed that Khan had lost people’s confidence, as proved by the ruling party’s defeat in 15 out of 16 by-elections in recent months. Several other PDM leaders also addressed the gathering and they also announced to change their rally into a sit-in and the workers would be camping until the vote of no- confidence was held.
Imran Khan, 69, is heading a coalition government since 2018 and he can be removed if some of the partners decide to switch sides. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has 155 members in the 342-member National Assembly and needs at least 172 lawmakers to retain power. Top of Form
Pakistan’s opposition says it has the required 172 votes in the 342-seat house to remove Khan’s government.
Monday’s development came a day after Khan at a rally promised to defeat the no-confidence effort with the help of legislators from his own Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and political allies. But four more legislators announced on Tuesday they were quitting Khan’s coalition government strengthening the opposition. “We have the support of required lawmakers to oust Imran Khan’s government,” Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the leader of the key opposition Pakistan People’s Party, told reporters.