Imran Khan, allies hold narrow majority in parliament, opposition claims it has numbers to send government packing
KARACHI, Pakistan
Amid ongoing political upheaval, Pakistan’s opposition parties filed a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday.
A total of 86 lawmakers, mostly from the two major opposition parties, the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), signed the application submitted to the speaker of the National Assembly, the lower house of Pakistan’s parliament.
According to the rules, Speaker Asad Qaiser is bound to summon a National Assembly session to vote on the move within the next seven days.
With the help of several smaller parties, Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) currently holds a narrow majority in the National Assembly.
It has 179 seats in the 342-member house, only seven more than required for a simple majority.
The opposition, on the other hand, has 162 members and needs 10 more votes to topple Khan’s government.
Opposition leaders claim they have the support of at least 24 members of the ruling party and its allies, whereas a confident Khan has said he has a “comfortable” majority to defeat the no-trust move.
The prime minister suffered a blow on Monday when several lawmakers led by his estranged confidant Jahangir Khan Tareen hinted that they could support the move.
The group, however, said it would take a decision on the matter once the no-trust motion was submitted.
