Khan ousted in Pakistan after losing vote of no confidence

IMRAN KHAN was dismissed from power as Pakistan’s prime minister last night after losing a no-confidence vote in parliament following weeks of political turmoil.

A coalition of opposition parties secured a majority of votes in the country’s national assembly, after Mr Khan’s allies unsuccessfully spent hours trying to dodge or derail the ballot.

A total of 174 parliamentarians voted for the opposition motion that they no longer had confidence in the former cricketer and “consequently that he should cease to hold office”. The motion had needed 172 votes to be passed.

The vote marks the end of nearly four years as prime minister for Mr Khan. The national assembly is expected to choose a new leader next week, with the winner likely to be Shehbaz Sharif, the younger brother of Mr Khan’s predecessor, Nawaz Sharif.

Mr Khan tried everything he could to stay in power and duck the vote, including suspending parliament last week and calling for elections. The supreme court deemed his actions unconstitutional and ordered the assembly to reconvene so the vote could proceed.

Yet he fought to the last and the vote was only held after a marathon 13-hour parliamentary session in which his allies obstructed, delayed and played for time.

Mr Sharif said the victory represented a new dawn for Pakistan, adding that the new government would not take political revenge on Mr Khan and members of the former government.

“I don’t want to go back to bitterness of the past,” he said after the result.

“We want to forget them and move forward. We will not take revenge or do injustice; we will not send people to jail for no reason. Law and justice will take its course.”

Mr Khan has called for peaceful protests tonight and the scale of turnout will give an early indication of how much support he might retain in opposition.

The new government inherits an economy in crisis. Crippling debt, price hikes and a feeble currency have combined to keep growth stagnant for the past three years, with little prospect of genuine improvement.

Inflation is currently at 13 per cent, foreign debt is 43 per cent of GDP and the rupee has dipped to 190 to the dollar, a decline of nearly a third since Mr Khan took power.