Newsman: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan has been ousted his position as prime minister of Pakistan following a vote of no-confidence over allegations of economic mismanagement, bringing an end to his tumultuous term in office.
The vote came after the speaker of the house resigned, saying he could not oversee the ouster of his close ally of 30 years, and after Khan’s own lawmakers delayed the vote all Saturday, only allowing voting close to midnight. Before discussion of the vote began, all of Khan’s allies walked out of the chamber. Acting speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq said 174 lawmakers had voted in favour of the motion, “consequently the vote of no confidence has passed”. No prime mister has ever served a full term in Pakistan, but Khan is the first to lose office this way.
The parliamentary vote held early morning on Sunday. The former cricket star Imran Khan was defeated. The opposition needed a minimum of 172 votes out of the 342.Pakistan’s 174 legislators voted against Imran Khan in a no-confidence motion and ousted him.
Imran Khan urged his supporters to take to the streets, particularly the youth who have been the backbone of his support since the former cricket star turned conservative Islamist politician and came to power in 2018. He said they needed to protect Pakistan’s sovereignty and oppose U.S. dictations.
“You have to come out to protect your own future. It is you who have to protect your democracy, your sovereignty and your independence. … This is your duty,” he said. “I will not accept an imposed government.”
The Supreme Court had ordered the vote to take place no later than Saturday, after it dismissed as unconstitutional an earlier attempt by Khan to dissolve the parliament in an effort to forestall the vote.
In an impassioned speech Friday, Khan doubled down on his accusations that his opponents colluded with the United States to unseat him over his foreign policy choices, which often seemed to favor China and Russia and defied the U.S.
Khan said Washington opposed his Feb. 24 meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin hours after tanks rolled into Ukraine, launching a devastating war in the heart of Europe.
The U.S. State Department has denied any involvement in Pakistan’s internal politics. Deputy State Department spokeswoman Jalina Porter told reporters on Friday there was “absolutely no truth to these allegations.”
