Another major setback for the Imran Khan-led government in Pakistan as its two more lawmakers Tuesday resigned from the ruling alliance to join the Opposition ahead of the voting on the no-confidence motion against the 69-year-old leader on April 3. In a desperate bid to save his government, Khan has now resorted to witchcraft, claimed the Opposition amid the ongoing political turmoil in the country.
National Assembly member Chaudhry Asim Nazir from Faisalabad joined the PML-N and also resigned from the post of parliamentary secretary of the PTI. Nazir was reportedly seen the day before with PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif, brother of deposed leader Nawaz Sharif, at Parliament House. Nazir had joined the PTI in 2018.
In another development, an independent member from Balochistan Aslam Bhootani also resigned from the ruling alliance and decided to vote for the Opposition, Geo News reported.
Khan is heading a coalition government and he can be removed if some of the partners decide to switch sides. Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) has 155 members in the 342-member National Assembly and needs at least 172 lawmakers to retain power.
Speaking to Pakistani news channel Aaj News, PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif has claimed that tonnes of chickens were being burnt at Khan’s Bani Gala residence. “Poor are starving, they are not getting food. Here at Bani Gala, tonnes of meat are being burnt. I am saying this with complete responsibility,” Hindustan Times quoted him as saying.
Taking potshots at Khan’s third wife, Bushra Bibi, also known as Bushra Riaz, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice-President Maryam Nawaz on Saturday said, “We know that jadu, tonna’ (witchcraft) is going on in Banigala to save Imran’s government but that will also not help.”
‘Voting on No-confidence Motion Against Imran Khan on April 3’
The voting on the no-confidence motion against Imran Khan will be held on April 3, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid said on Tuesday. There will be a debate on the no-confidence motion on March 31, followed by voting on April 3, he said, adding that Khan would emerge victoriously. He predicted that all estranged allies would come back to support the government headed by Khan as already done by Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q).
The remarks came as the Pakistan opposition alliance in the last midnight power show vowed to bring down the beleaguered government of Prime Minister Khan. 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.
Maryam Nawaz Throws Challenge to Imran Khan
Maryam Nawaz 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 JUI-F and other PDM parties who had already set up a camp. Maryam, daughter and heir of former three-time premier Nawaz Sharif, castigated incumbent premier Khan for using the religious card to save his tottering throne.
I challenge you to have 172 MNAs with you on the voting day on the no-trust motion, she said. She accused Khan of putting down his most trusted Punjab Chief Minister, Usman Buzdar, to save his power after the government decided to replace him with Chaudhry Pervez Elahi to win the support of his Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid party.
You pushed your most trustworthy man [Buzdar] into the water to save your own rule. We have not seen such an ungrateful man in our whole lives, she said. She also said that Khan claimed a foreign conspiracy to topple him and blamed him for showing a fake letter at the rally a day earlier.
She said 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 came to power in 2018 with promises to create a ‘Naya Pakistan’ but miserably failed to address the basic problem of keeping the prices of commodities in control, giving air to the sails of opposition ships to make war on his government.
(with inputs from PTI)
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