Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was removed from office through a no-confidence vote held in the early hours of April 10 after a day of high drama, becoming the first Premier in the country’s history to be sent home after losing the trust of the House.
The joint Opposition — a rainbow of socialist, liberal and radically religious parties — secured the support of 174 members in the 342-member National Assembly, more than the needed strength of 172 to oust the Prime Minister on a day full of drama and multiple adjournments of the Lower House.
No Prime Minister in Pakistan’s history was ever ousted through a no-confidence motion. Mr. Khan is the first Premier whose fate was decided through a trust vote. Earlier, two separate no-trust motions failed respectively against former Premiers Benazir Bhutto in 1989 and Shaukat Aziz in 2006.
Also, no Pakistani Prime Minister has ever completed a full five-year term in office.
Mr. Khan, 69, was not present in the Lower House at the time of voting. His party lawmakers staged a walkout during the voting. However, PTI’s dissident members were present in the House and sat on the Government benches.
The removal of Mr. Khan has set in motion the process to elect the new leader of the Ho
The combined Opposition has already named Shehbaz Sharif, president of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) as joint candidate. He could be elected as Prime Minister by Sunday.
Mr. Sharif vowed that the “new regime would not indulge in politics of revenge”.
