Pakistan: Imran Khan Out, Shehbaz Sharif May Be New PM
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was ousted from office in a no-confidence vote in parliament in the early hours of Sunday after three years and seven months in power.
The opposition parties in Pakistan had submitted a no-confidence motion against Imran Khan on 8th March 2022 in their Assembly. A no-confidence motion is a vote about whether a person is still fit to hold that position, because they have failed to carry out their duty, or made decisions that are detrimental (harmful) to the country. The opposition parties in Pakistan wanted to remove Prime Minister Imran Khan as they felt that his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) government was responsible for the country's ongoing economic crisis and high inflation. On 3rd April when the assembly was to vote for the no-confidence motion, Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri dismissed the motion without a vote. Following the dismissal of the no-confidence motion, Imran Khan advised President Arif Alvi to remove all the ministers from the parliament and hold a new election within 90 days to elect a Government. The opposition leaders did not accept this and challenged this in Pakistan’s Supreme Court. Then on 7th April the Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered the no-confidence motion to be held. The no-confidence vote was held on 10th April in the assembly. Imran Khan got defeated in the no-confidence motion. Out of the 343 member assembly, 174 voted to remove Imran Khan as the PM.
Now MPs will vote today to elect the new PM who will form the new government. Now Imran Khan’s party has suggested the name of Shah Mahmood Qureshi as their Pm candidate. Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) is the opposition party and its leader is Shehbaz Sharif. He is the brother of former Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif. Shehbaz is the opposition’s candidate. No prime minister has completed a full five-year tenure in Pakistan since its independence in 1947. Prime ministers have been removed under a variety of circumstances, including corruption, military coups and forced resignations, assassination etc. Imran Khan is Pakistan's first PM to be removed through a no-trust vote.
