Imran Khan-led government faces tough task ahead of Pakistan no-confidence vote

The twists and turns continue in Pakistan’s political scene as prime minister Imran Khan faces a tough no-trust motion on March 25. The country’s National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser convened the assembly session on that day after around 100 lawmakers from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) submitted the no-confidence motion.

The Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has come under a lot of pressure for the ongoing economic crisis and major inflation in the country. After the opposition submitted the motion, the speaker summoned the session under the power given to him by Article 54 (3) and 254 of the Constitution of Pakistan.

According to PTI, the delay in this case is due to the high-profile 48th summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) starting from March 22 at the Parliament House.

Earlier, the opposition parties threatened to stage a sit-inside the parliament if the session was not called on time regarding the proposed no-confidence motion. The announcement resulted in a softening of tone on the oppositions who made it clear that there would be no disruptions in the proceedings of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Conference of Foreign Ministers (CFM).

According to The Guardian, Imran Khan has also increased his attack on the West ahead of the vote.

With the no-confidence motion just a few days away, both the ruling party and the opposition are trying to flex their muscles. The ruling party issued show-cause notices to all its dissident lawmakers for defection and asked for explanation regarding their actions within March 26. It will allow them to try to disqualify the dissidents as members of the National Assembly on grounds of defection.

Imran Khan is currently heading a coalition government and once the no-confidence motion is formally accepted, the voting should be completed between three to seven days.

In the 342-member National Assembly, the Opposition needs 172 votes to remove Khan. Currently, PTI has 155 members and they also have the support of 23 members from at least six other parties.

On the opposition side, the PPP held its core committee meeting and also held meeting with the leaders from PML-N and JUI-F at a lunch hosted by PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif.

Watch |Pakistan PM Imran Khan faces revolt from his own party

(With inputs from agencies)