Nearly two dozen disgruntled lawmakers from Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s ruling party have openly threatened to vote against him on the no-confidence motion tabled in Parliament by the Opposition, in a fresh blow to the embattled premier struggling to cling to power.
Around 100 lawmakers from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) submitted a no-confidence motion before the National Assembly Secretariat on March 8, alleging that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf government led by Khan was responsible for the economic crisis and the spiralling inflation in the country.
The National Assembly session for the move is expected to be convened on March 21 and the voting is likely to be held on March 28. After the no-trust move was submitted by the joint Opposition, some of the partners in the government began to dither but the real shocker for Khan came on Thursday when it emerged that about 24 lawmakers from his own party were ready to defect.
Raja Riaz, one of the lawmakers, told Geo News that Khan had failed to control inflation while another lawmaker Noor Alam Khan told Samaa News that his multiple grievances were not addressed by the government.
“We are part of more than two dozen members who are not happy with the government policies,” Riaz said. “I raised the issue of gas shortage in my constituency many times but nothing was done,” said Noor Alam.
The disgruntled lawmakers have been staying at Sindh House in Islamabad which is a property of the Sindh government and run by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). Saeed Ghani, a provincial minister and spokesman of the Sindh government, said the lawmakers fear they will be abducted by the government.
The Imran Khan government now plans to petition the Supreme Court to seek a ruling on whether the defectors could lose their seats ahead of the no-confidence vote.
Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad told a news conference it had been decided to seek the Supreme Court’s ruling about whether the defectors are eligible to cast a vote after switching sides. Ahmad said the decision was taken in a meeting chaired by Khan, but did not say when the petition would be filed.
“I want to ask all of you to get back … We wouldn’t do anything against you,” he said in an appeal to the dissidents. The dissidents are being issued a show-cause notice, Khan’s Cabinet minister Asad Umar said.
Under Pakistan’s floor-crossing law, parliamentarians who defect could lose their seats if they then choose to vote against their party, but what Khan’s government is trying to see is whether that is also applicable before they cast votes.
With inputs from PTI and Reuters
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