The political drama intensifies in Pakistan. On April 3rd, Prime Minister of Pakistan and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has been denotified from his role as Prime Minister of Pakistan. In this post, we will look at what is happening in Pakistan?
A statement was issued in this regard from the country’s Cabinet Division after the dissolution of the National Assembly, Geo News reported.
The opposition which is trying hard to topple the Imran Khan government was faced with a set of failures in the attempt. The denotification has come after the deputy speaker of the National Assembly (NA) Qasim Suri dismissed the no-confidence motion by the opposition against the PTI chairman and termed it “unconstitutional”.
Pakistan Opposition parties went forward with the no-confidence motion with the support of people who have turned against Imran Khan inside the party.
However, the situation escalated after Pakistan’s president dissolved the National Assembly on Khan’s advice, thwarting any attempt by the opposition to remove the premier from office.
“The President of Pakistan, Dr. Arif Alvi, has approved the advice of the Prime Minister,” a statement from his office said. This means there will be re-election in Pakistan within 90 days.
Why is the opposition trying to topple the Imran Khan government?
There are several factors that lead to this situation. The main opposition parties, The Pakistan Muslim League (PMLN) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) have initiated this move to oust the Imran Khan government.
The accusations are that Khan, who came to power by talking about the prevalent corruption has cast the allegations of the opposition being a “gang of thieves” in public addresses
The second factor was the opposition’s belief that it has the strength required to defeat Khan in a no-confidence vote. The show of a simple majority in the 342 member National Assembly would be sufficient for the no-confidence motion to succeed. The opposition counted on the dissident members of PTI and the dissatisfied coalition.
The third factor was Pakistan’s powerful military which doesn’t have a history of working well with the sitting government, is also widely perceived to have withdrawn its support for Khan giving confidence to the opposition to make its move against Khan.
What will happen next?
The Supreme Court of Pakistan will be hearing the matter and taking a decision. The President has dissolved the National Assembly on Khan’s device. Pakistan’s state minister for information confirmed that the country will hold an election in 90 days.
Farrukh Habib made the announcement in a tweet, although a final decision will come from the president and the election commission.
Meanwhile, the opposition has geared itself toward the elections. Opposition leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari says they are ready to contest elections. He also added that their legal team is working on a petition and will be going to the Supreme Court as the deputy speaker had no right to cancel the voting.
“We are ready for the general elections but we cannot allow violation of the rules and the constitution. They (government) want instability in Pakistan but we will once again defeat them,” Bilawal said. “The court is bound to side with the constitution of Pakistan.”
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