Pakistan Heads For Early Elections Amidst Prime Minister’s No-Confidence Move

Prime Minister Imran Khan of Pakistan has dissolved the Pakistani parliament in a step towards early elections following an attempt to remove him from office. His actions come after parliament’s deputy speaker refused to hold a vote of no-confidence that Khan was expected to lose. Khan claims the United States is leading a conspiracy to remove him from office because of his criticism of US policy and foreign policy decisions he himself has taken. However, opposition leaders ridiculed this allegation from Khan and the United States has denied it. Khan made a visit to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin despite him launching a full scale invasion of Ukraine. It’s worth mentioning Khan has also previously criticised the United States “War on Terror”. BBC Secunder Kermani says Khan is widely regarded as having come to power with the help of Pakistan’s military but now says they have fallen out. Khan’s political opponents seized the opportunity to demand a no-confidence vote after persuading a number of his coalition partners to change sides.  The Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry told ministers that Pakistani officials had been told of “an operation for a regime change by a foreign government”. Chaudhry said this went against the constitution and the deputy speaker chairing the session, proceeded to declare the vote unconstitutional (BBC, 2022). 

The opposition was furious about this and filed a petition to Pakistan Supreme Court which is now assessing whether the decision not to allow a vote against Khan is valid. Meanwhile, heavy security has been deployed around government buildings and across the capital of Islamabad. The latest twist in the unfolding political drama took the country by surprise. The opposition was certain to win a vote of no-confidence against Khan and now they are hoping the Supreme Court will overrule the decision not to hold the vote. However, Khan’s popularity has been severely dented by the rising living costs but still has a sizable following and he does stand a better chance in fresh elections than he did in a parliamentary vote. He has many supporters, and they believe his narrative that he’s a victim of an attempted regime change by the United States. All eyes will be on the position of Pakistan’s powerful military because they have fallen out. It will be interesting to see what stance they take regarding any upcoming elections. Khan was elected Prime Minister on July 18 and he vowed to take corruption and to fix Pakistan's crippling economy. He remains popular with voters, despite the loss of support for the rocketing inflation in the country and the ballooning foreign debt. The supporters of Khan gathered outside the parliament buildings in Islamabad to show their support. There have been only two previous instances when sitting Prime Ministers faced a vote of no confidence and in both times Benazir Bhutto in 1989 and Shaukat Aziz in 2006 emerged unscathed (BBC, 2022). 

Sources and further reading: BBC News. (2022, April 3). Pakistan heads for early election amid move to remove PM Imran Khan. Retrieved April 4, 2022, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-60972186