The lower House of Pakistan’s Parliament is scheduled to meet on Thursday for a debate on the no-confidence motion tabled by the joint opposition against Prime Minister Imran Khan to topple his government which has effectively lost majority after two key allies walked away from the ruling coalition. The National Assembly session will be held at the Parliament House at 4:00 pm (local time), according to the schedule issued by the assembly secretariat. It also issued a 24-point agenda for the session and the no-confidence motion is fourth on the agenda. Opposition leader in National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif will start the debate on the no-confidence motion which was tabled on March 28. The motion was tabled under Article A-95 of the Constitution, and it had 161 members as signatories. While tabling the motion, Sharif had said he was presenting the no-confidence motion against prime minister Khan. The voting is expected on April 3 and before the crucial day, the two sides would use the assembly forum to debate the matter.

The position of the opposition parties has strengthened after two main allies of the government, including Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), joined the front against the government. The government lost its majority after the allies ditched it and pressure is mounting on Khan, the cricketer-turned-politician. His ministers, however, have said that Khan would fight until “the last ball of the last over”. Khan has effectively lost the majority in Parliament after a key partner of the ruling coalition joined the ranks of the Opposition, which has tabled a no-confidence motion against his government in the National Assembly. Khan needs 172 votes in the lower house of 342 to foil the Opposition's bid to topple him. However, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, chief of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Fazl (JUI-F), said that the Opposition has the support of 175 lawmakers and the prime minister should resign. No Pakistani prime minister has ever completed a full five-year term in office. Also, no prime minister in Pakistan's history has ever been ousted through a no-confidence motion, and Khan is the third premier to face the challenge.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Khan strictly directed his party lawmakers to either abstain or not attend the National Assembly session on the day of voting on the no-confidence motion against him, which is likely to be held in the first week of April. Khan came to power in 2018 with promises to create a ‘Naya Pakistan’ but miserably failed to address the basic problem of keeping the prices of commodities in control, giving air to the sails of opposition ships to make war on his government. His chances of survival are getting slimmer and the easiest way to end the uncertainty is to get back the support of all allies and win back dissidents within his own party.?

PTI INPUTS