Supporters of an opposition party celebrate the success of a vote of no confidence against Prime Minister Imran Khan, in Karachi, Pakistan, Sunday, April 10, 2022.
Khan / AP
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Khan / AP
Supporters of an opposition party celebrate the success of a vote of no confidence against Prime Minister Imran Khan, in Karachi, Pakistan, Sunday, April 10, 2022.
Khan / AP
ISLAMABAD – The ouster of Prime Minister Imran Khan in a vote of no confidence early Sunday has set Pakistan on an uncertain political path, with Khan calling on supporters to take to the streets in protest and faction Political opposition prepares to bring in his replacement.
Khan was taken down after a day of drama and often poignant remarks. His supporters accused Washington of orchestrating his ouster, and his party left Congress shortly before the vote. In the end, 174 lawmakers in the 342-seat National Assembly voted to remove him, two more than the simple majority required.
Khan’s successor will be elected by Parliament and sworn in on Monday. The leading candidate is Shahbaz Sharif, brother of disgraced former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
Shahbaz Sharif heads the largest party in a diverse coalition of opposing factions that range from leftist to radically religious. Khan’s candidate for prime minister will be his foreign minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
Mr Khan’s ouster comes as his relationship with the powerful military cools and an economy is grappling with high inflation and a plummeting Pakistani rupee. The opposition has accused Khan’s government of economic mismanagement.
Khan has claimed the US worked behind the scenes to bring him down, purportedly because Washington was unhappy about his independent foreign policy choices, which often favor China and Russia. He has occasionally challenged America and sharply criticized America’s war on terror after 9/11. Mr. Khan said the United States was deeply concerned by his visit to Russia and his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24, the start of the brutal war in Ukraine.
The US State Department has denied his allegations.
Elizabeth Threlkeld, a Pakistan expert at the US-based Stimson Center, said that even as prime minister, Khan often played the role of opposition leader.
“His removal will put him in a role he knows well, armed with a victim story from baseless claims of international interference,” she said. “His base will remain loyal, although I expect both his controversial attempt to stay in power and the reduction of military support will cost him a few followers. more committed.”
Khan seems to have some options going forward.
General elections are not scheduled before August 2023. Even if the new prime minister favors early elections, this probably won’t happen before October. Pakistan Elections Commission, the body. monitor the polls, told the Supreme Court last week that it still had to complete the reordering of constituencies in line with the results of the 2017 census before the polls can be organized.
Following Sunday’s vote, giant steel containers stacked on top of each other blocked the main roads leading to Parliament and the diplomatic district in the capital, Islamabad. Khan has urged his supporters to gather late on Sunday, following the end of the daily dawn-to-sunset period during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Michael Kugelman, Associate Director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Wilson Center, has predicted a tumultuous time ahead for Pakistan.
“Khan’s defeat will also make Pakistan a place full of partisanship and division,” said Mr. Kugelman. “It will take time for the country to pick up the pieces, and the coming months will be politically chaotic.”
Sunday’s vote capped a week-long constitutional crisis that has enthralled the country. It began last Sunday when Khan sought to bypass the vote of no confidence by dissolving Parliament and calling for early elections, which were then handed over to the Supreme Court to arrange, ultimately to rule. reinstate Congress and ask to vote for him.
Khan has won international acclaim for his handling of the COVID pandemic by opting for a so-called “smart lock” where outbreaks occurred instead of a nationwide shutdown that has helped protect some industries such as the construction sector. build. His reputation in fighting corruption has brought in a record $21 billion in remittances from Pakistanis abroad.
But he has been unable to overcome an increasingly strained relationship with the military, which has ruled Pakistan directly for more than half of its 75-year history and indirectly from the sidelines when civilian governments were in power.
Khan’s opponents say the military helped him win the 2018 election after losing to Nawaz Sharif, who was found guilty of corruption after being included in the so-called Panama Papers. These papers are a collection of leaked confidential financial documents that show how some of the world’s richest people hide their money and involve a global law firm based in Panama.
Pakistan’s Supreme Court has disqualified Sharif from holding office. He lives in exile in London after being convicted in a Pakistani court of corruption. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
The rift in Khan’s relationship with the military began last November after he argued with powerful army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa over the appointment of a new intelligence chief.
Last weekend, Bajwa appeared to distance himself from Khan’s anti-American attacks, saying that Pakistan wanted good relations with Washington, its biggest export trading partner, and with China. He condemned Russia’s war in Ukraine.
