Pakistani Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid warned members of the National Assembly (NA) of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) coalition against defecting from the party, saying that the “turncoats must keep in mind that early elections can also be called in the country.” The comment came just one day before the NA is set to convene for a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan.
The opposition, whose request requires Khan to gather the support of at least half of the NA, needs a simple majority of 172 to pass the motion. Sources within the opposition allege that they are confident of gaining the support of at least 202 members of national assembly (MNA) as several members from the ruling coalition government have defected.
Addressing these rumours, Rashid said, “Those who are changing parties and thinking they will get respect, they are wrong.” He also urged opposition leaders to refrain from going for the vote and “rethink the situation in view of the global scenario,” referring to the rising inflation and unemployment in the country.
Several PTI MNAs have been seeking the removal of Usman Buzdar, the Chief Minister of the Punjab province. The breakaway faction, led by Jahangir Tareen, has accused the Punjab government of “completely failing to fulfil its mandate and bring about the promised change.” Several PTI members and coalition allies have communicated their intention to vote against PM Khan during the trust vote over his continued support for Buzdar.
In response, the ruling coalition approached the country’s Supreme Court, alleging that the defections violate Article 63A of the Constitution, which calls for the disqualification of party members who vote against the party leader on issues such as no-trust motions and money bills. However, the law remains silent on the period of disqualification, which Khan’s government has argued must be permanent.
The government has also issued show-cause notices to 14 members of the PTI for publicly supporting the opposition in the upcoming no-trust motion, citing “large scale broadcast videos” suggesting that the members had left Khan’s PTI and joined them. The breakaway members were asked to present themselves before the party’s disciplinary committee to justify why they shouldn’t be “de-seated” as members of the NA.
Against this tense backdrop, PM Khan addressed a gathering in Islamabad on Thursday, wherein he called on the nation to join him in “standing against evil” and urged citizens to gather at a rally on Sunday to show their support for him.
Earlier this week, he declared that he would not “resign under any circumstance” and vowed to “surprise” the opposition a day before the trust vote, reiterating his confidence that he would succeed in retaining his position.
Khan has also criticised the military for adopting a neutral position on the issue. Two weeks ago Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director-General Major General Babar Iftikhar clarified that the Army has “nothing to do with politics” and requested the media to refrain from such “unnecessary speculation.”
Amid reports of a fallout between the all-powerful military and Khan, the Business Standard reported that the Pakistani leader is considering sacking Chief of the Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa and replacing him with a “senior non-controversial figure” who could provide him with an escape route. In fact, during his address in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Khan appeared to call for greater separation of powers between the government and the military, praising India for its “independent foreign policy” and contrasting it with Bajwa’s feigned “neutrality” on the trust vote.
Meanwhile, on Friday, the NA convened for the first time since opposition parties officially submitted a no-confidence motion; however, the session was suspended without the resolution being tabled. Among those attending the session included Minister of Foreign Affairs Shah Mahmood Qureshi and opposition leaders Shehbaz Sharif, Asif Ali Zardari, and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari. The NA will now meet on March 28 at 4 pm.