Imran Khan has become Pakistan’s first Prime Minister to lose a no-confidence vote. Today’s vote to remove Mr Khan from the top job capped a dramatic week in which he avoided an initial no-confidence vote before persuading the loyalist President to dissolve parliament and call fresh elections. Mr Khan had declared that he would “play until the last ball” was not present in parliament.
However, Pakistan’s Supreme Court declared on Thursday that all of Mr Khan’s actions were illegal, and that his fate must be decided by the national legislature, where he has lost his majority.
After the Chief Justice announced earlier this week that the bench would only rule on the validity of the initial no-confidence petition being blocked, the court’s decision was broader than expected.
Mr Khan, the cricketer-turned-politician who came to power in 2018 on pledges to establish a “Naya Pakistan,” was once the Army’s sweetheart, but reports indicate he fell out with the army chief and key commanders last year, which is the primary reason for his current demise.
Although the military appears to be staying out of the current conflict, there have been four coups since the country’s independence in 1947, and the country has been ruled by the army for more than three decades.
Since the country’s independence in 1947, no Pakistani Prime Minister has served a full five-year term.
Whoever succeeds Mr Khan will have to face with the same problems he did: surging inflation, a weak rupee, and debilitating debt.
The Chenab Times News Desk