Prime minister wins vote of confidence
IMRAN KHAN NEEDED AT LEAST 172 VOTES BUT SECURED 178
Prime Minister Imran Khan won the trust of the parliament by securing 178 votes from the National Assembly in a crucial and tense atmosphere in Islamabad yesterday.
The premier needed at least 172 votes to win the confidence of the 342-member house but secured 178 votes, the National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser announced.
The win comes as the opposition claimed that the prime minister had lost the confidence of the majority. The 10-party alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) boycotted the session but gathered outside the parliament house in a show of strength. A large number of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters, mostly young members, also assembled near the parliament to show support for PM Imran Khan and criticised the opposition’s alleged horsetrading in the Senate polls.
The prime minister announced a bold decision and called the special session to seek a vote of confidence to win credibility after the Senate elections setback to the government. The joint opposition alliance candidate Yousaf Raza Gillani stunned the PTI government with an unexpected victory against the ruling party’s candidate Hafeez Shaikh in the Senate polls.
Pakistani premier decided to seek the confidence vote from the parliament as the opposition indicated to move a noconfidence motion in the national assembly to oust Khan’s government. The opposition alliance demanded the premier’s resignation and fresh elections following the elections of the upper house of the parliament.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said that Gilani’s win over PTI’s candidate proved that the prime minister had lost the confidence of the National Assembly and that it was “too late” for any attempts to save the government now.